To Live Again
by Terri'smind
Summary: Itachi may have died, but the universe isn't quite finished with him yet. A second chance is a precious thing after all. Slash is a possibility.
1. Part 1

**Author's Note: I'm posting this today in honor of Uchiha Itachi's birthday, which, according to Wikipedia is today. This was written with the intent to be a three part story, however, if those other parts will be written or not are questionable. I hope that ya'll enjoy and the character's aren't too OOC.**

 **Disclaimer: I neither own nor profit from Katekyo Hitman Reborn or Naruto. I also don't own Rascal Flats' "My Wish".**

 **Part One:**

 **1.**

Uchiha Itachi had succumbed to a disease that had caused him much pain during his life after his beloved younger brother defeated him, still believing him to be the bastard that had murdered their entire family for power. It had been exactly as he had wanted.

He had not, however, foreseen having been drug back from beyond the grave, and his brother discovering the truth of what Itachi's actions during life. Not that it truly mattered at that point, he was still dead.

So, when the reanimation jutsu had been stopped, he certainly had not been anticipating his eyes ever opening for a third time.

But for better or worse, and with his luck it was probably worse, Uchiha Itachi's soul was cast from the afterlife into a new, innocent form (if anything about him could actually be called innocent after all he had done –even in the name of his village).

He spent what felt like an eternity in a pitch black darkness that surrounded him like a cocoon. And he emerged into his new life in complete silence, near death and two months early. His birth complications resulted in numerous medical bills and his sorry excuse of a sperm donor had disappeared mysteriously before his birth leaving his new mother in debt and a single mother.

She was drawn and haggard each day she came to visit him in his sterile environment in the hospital (from the words she spoke to him every day, completely unaware that he understood everything she said, he learned that she loved him beyond measure and was struggling with three jobs so that she could support them).

Already it was so different from his past life (and he was only six weeks old), and yet, he had (almost) never felt such guilt, or so utterly loved by any individual (except by Sasuke when he was younger and that was more admiration than true love).

If he managed to survive to grow up in this life he would make sure his loved ones knew he loved them in this life, he promised himself.

Inoue Kazumi was allowed to be released after two months in the hospital.

 **2.**

Shortly before his first birthday he perceived a change in his mother's behavior. She had quit two of her jobs (how they could afford that he had no idea since they were just barely managing month to month) and she was slipping out for several hours at night after 'putting him to bed'. During the afternoon she took naps with him, which had never happened before due to her work schedule.

At first he feared that she had begun taking unsavory jobs in the red light district, but soon had to retract that idea, after she came home one night reeking of fresh blood. She entered his room and cried confessing (to what she believed to a child who was asleep and unable to understand if awake) that she had been taking jobs for the mafia as a hit-person and while she was killing some truly unforgivable individuals, she felt awful about touching her 'innocent baby with her blood stained hands'.

If only she knew.

He felt terribly guilty that his presence drove her to such measures (and was slightly relived that his original theory was wrong) he could not regret being reborn. His existence was the only thing that was keeping his new mother sane, and he couldn't begrudge anything that made such a kind woman happy, even himself and all the burdens that followed.

His first birthday was marked with a small cake that he indulgently smashed between his fingers and smeared across his face childishly for his mother's benefit. She loved taking pictures of him doing 'childlike' things so she could show them to him when he was older. She had the habit of printing them (even back when they didn't have much money to waist on trivial frivolities) and carefully writing the date and occasion on the back before organizing them in an album that she stored in a protective plastic container.

Most of the pictures she had taken were ridiculous and embarrassing but he couldn't be bothered to care.

Besides the cake, he was presented with a soft plushy toy that was an akita dog. In his previous life he had never really been partial to dogs but he did find that he enjoyed petting the soft fur of the stuffed animal (an act that his mother took pleasure in taking pictures of).

He was enjoying being able to act like a child, his childhood previously had been short lived and filled with heaping expectations of being the Uchiha heir. He may have experienced near poverty in this life and drove his mother into the underworld of society (for he had quickly realized during his stay in the hospital that chakra did not exist here and there were no ninjas – he would have heard the medical nin yelling if that had been the case, at escaping shinobi patients), and he might have a weaker body earlier in this life, but he still enjoyed the benefits and unconditional love of his mother.

He liked this life.

 **3.**

When he was nearing his second birthday, his mother arrived home after one of her 'jobs' one day injured and covered in her own blood (in opposition to the other people's blood she was usually speckled with). She had apparently botched a hit and the client was most displeased.

So they were taking evasive measures to ensure their safety (aka. "getting the hell out of here", so said his mother – he personally liked how he phrased it better).

They were on the first flight out of Japan his mother could find tickets to, and then headed to a place called Italy, where his mother seemed to think she could find more jobs.

She wasn't wrong.

(During this time he also managed to get his first look at a map of this new world he had been born into and he discovered that it was …massive, to say the least. This made him want to gather more information. Time to convince his mother to 'teach him' how to read more than his name.)

 **4.**

His mother never commented on the fact that he devoured books as soon as she brought them to him. She never said anything about how he learned Italian much faster than she did after only looking at one Italian textbook. (And soon after, French, German, Russian, English, Chinese, and Korean, he found the multitude of languages that existed in this world fascinating). She only smiled and looked at him with a face that glowed with pride and took several pictures of his little form pouring over books that were nearly as large as him.

There was no pressure to do better, no stress that he was doing something wrong, only pure unaltered pride at what he was able to accomplish (which was really more than any normal child should be able to) and acceptance.

He loved it. He loved her and he made sure she knew it every day. He would never again make someone he cherished feel like he didn't care. He wouldn't do it to them and he couldn't do it to himself. Not again.

 **5.**

So he grew, he learned much about his new world, and he made his mother happy beyond belief. She slowly grew a reputation in the underground society of Italy and the outings and strolls in parks slowed, but he didn't mind, though she worried constantly about it.

"Kazumi-chan, it's not good for you to be cooped inside all day long. You are a growing boy that needs fresh air and playing with children your own age would be good for you." His mother pouted at her much too understanding child.

"Hn. It's for my safety that I can't though. Besides I really don't want to play with anyone my age." He responded looking up from his book.

"How would you know that? It's not like you've ever played with other children."

"Hn." Was his response. She had him there. With one look in her dark eyes he could tell that she was plotting something.

He returned to his book to contemplate the similarities between a raven and a writing desk.

 **6.**

Mafia Land. His mother had brought him to some place called Mafia Land. Wasn't she trying to keep people from the world she worked in from attacking him? Why did she bring him to someplace that was crawling with the people she wanted to keep him away from? It was official, women, in any world, were completely incorrigible.

Worst of all? He had somehow gotten separated from her and due to his…lack of height, he was unable to find her (talk about stereotypical lost child at the grocery store, now it was lost child at Mafia Land). While he was aware that children were supposed to stay put when lost, he really didn't consider himself a child, no matter how much he enjoyed the benefits of having a childhood and being able to behave like a child for his mother's benefit. So, he wandered about the amusement park area in search of his mother.

 **7.**

The copper taste of blood filled his mouth. He nearly choked on his own liquid life while coughing before he could expel it. Clutching his chest he, bent over and spit out the crimson substance. Once he managed to recover he noticed the presence of someone who must have appeared in the small wooded area of Mafia Land he had found to cough up his own blood in private. So much for private.

 **8.**

He wiped his blood coated hands on the grass before turning his attention to the silent wide eyed child that was staring at him.

"Shouldn't you be with your parents?" That question got the white haired child's attention (though he really shouldn't call the other boy a child since he looked to be his own age).

"Voi! I'm old enough to take care of myself." The boy yelled loudly, former speechlessness completely gone.

"Hn." He scoffed.

"Voi! You're the one who needs to be with his parents! Sick brats need their parents to look after them unlike me."

His brow twitched. "If anyone is the brat it's you, not me. And I'm fine."

It was the white haired boy's turn to scoff. "Yeah, right you are. Coughing up blood in the woods by yourself means every damn thing is perfect." The boy narrowed his gray eyes and looked over Kazumi, "And I'm pretty sure you're the brat, with how tiny you are. Bet I'm older. March 13, 19XX. You?"

Kazumi glanced to the side. "Hn."

The boy grinned, showing off some sharp teeth that reminded him vaguely of Kisame. "Voi! I'm right!"

Kazumi's silence on the matter was answer enough apparently. "June 9, 19XX."

"Knew I was right!" Kazumi was treated to another glance. "So what are you doing by yourself, brat, besides being sick? Got separated from your mommy, brat?"

"Hn." He was really not liking this conversation. Acting like a child for four years had obviously degraded his conversational skills if a normal four year old child could get the upper hand on him.

"Right again!" Did this boy say nothing in a normal volume? "We'll explore this place together until we find her, brat!" the white haired boy declared without asking. He grabbed Kazumi's hand and began dragging him back to the more populated area filled with food carts, rides, and festivities. Kazumi just let him, he was rather intrigued (though a little embarrassed about being called out), besides he didn't think the kid would hesitate to track him down if he tried to get away.

"Voi! I'm Squalo Superbi! What's your name, brat?" asked the boy as Kazumi was drug behind him.

"Inoue Kazumi."

"Voi! That is so weird!"

"Hn. Like yours isn't." Kazumi scoffed.

"Voi! Brat!"

This just might be the start of a friendship (though it might not be a beautiful one).

(Oh, well, his mom would be happy at the least. Once he found her.)

 **9.**

Kazumi was drug all over the island by Squalo. They rode rollercoasters (with Squalo yelling at the top of his lungs the entire time while Kazumi sat there completely blank faced – though Squalo, who was quickly learning the subtle meanings of Kazumi's expressions (much too fast for his comfort) knew that Kazumi had enjoyed the rides). They played shooting games (that Squalo turned out to be terrible at, resulting in him screaming at the stall employee that had drawn a gun before Kazumi had managed to pull Squalo away, thankfully the man's aim had been worse than even Squalo's).

When they had become tired (and Kazumi felt that if they didn't stop he would have another fit) they sat down and ate the dango that they had tracked down a vendor to purchase it from.

Over all, Kazumi thought as he munched on his sweet, sweet dango, he had had fun. He hadn't anticipated that hanging out with anyone his physical age would be enjoyable. But then again, what did he really know about having friends? He had only had two in his previous life and he had only had the opportunity to 'hang out' with one of them.

"Voi! Brat!?" Squalo asked, attracting Kazumi's attention.

"Hn?"

"Is that scary woman your mom?"

Sure enough, there was his mother, looking distinctly unhappy.

Not good. Very not good.

He really hated upsetting her.

 **10.**

His mother listened to their side of the story before commenting. Her expression was visibly softer and happier by the time they had finished their story (minus his little…incident, they had glossed over that part).

"Oh sweetheart! I'm so glad you've made a friend." She said beaming at the two of them. "However, if you ever scare me like that again- you won't leave the house again until you're eighty…alright?"

That smile his mother had said that with was…disturbing, would be his word for it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a slight shudder run through Squalo, he apparently wasn't the only one who thought so.

His mother turned her attention to Squalo, who took a precautionary step back. "Squalo Superbi, was it?" The white haired boy nodded nervously. "Right then, take me to your parents."

That sounded really ominous for some reason.

 **11.**

His mother and Katarina Superbi hit it off spectacularly.

Who knew a free-lance hit-woman and a mafia doctor could get along so well? (Squalo's mother worked at the mafia land hospital and his father was a well-respected blacksmith that sold his wares on the island as well, which explained why Squalo was so obsessed with swords at such a young age.)

The two women had already begun scheduling play dates for their sons (both women agreeing that their sons needed more social interaction). While this wasn't inherently a bad thing, they had come up with the puzzling notion that signing up their two four year old boys for dancing lessons was a brilliant idea.

While Kazumi didn't really care (and suspected that this adventure would result in a lot of picture taking from both women to record the event), he felt that Squalo wouldn't be as indifferent to the idea as he was.

"Voi! What the hell! Have you lost your mind, woman!"

Yeah…

 **12.**

Music played as the two boys danced (though, to Kazumi it felt more like they were just spinning in a circle to music, but what did he know about dancing?). Their mothers were to the side of the room giggling together and each one clutching a camera in their hands, just as Kazumi had suspected would happen.

It had only been a week since Kazumi and Squalo had met on Mafia Island (he and his mother had returned home for the week but were back in time for the weekend lessons). So far, the lesson hadn't been horrible even though Kazumi had been regulated to the female position ("Voi! Your hair is longer! I'm not going to be the girl!") but Squalo…

"Hn."

"What!" Squalo said, his brows puckered together as he concentrated on moving his feet.

"Stop stepping on my toes."

"Voi! Then move them out of my way!"

"Hn." Kazumi had his most unimpressed face. "You are the one leading, so it's your fault."

Squalo got flustered. "V-voi!" and proceeded to, again, step on Kazumi's feet.

Ugh. His mother had better get him the dango she promised him after this.

 **13.**

"Voi! I don't understand why we have to take these girly lessons! I want to be the best swordsman in the world, not a damned dancer!" Squalo complained during one of the lessons, in what for the white haired boy was a mummer, but a normal conversational tone for everyone else in the world.

Kazumi wondered if he should even bother responding to that obviously rhetorical statement.

With a sigh, which got him a glare from Squalo, he tried to make the loud mouth understand. "You practice your swordsmanship with your dad, right?"

"Of course!"

"Of course, " Kazumi said agreeably, though he personally thought that being the best wasn't necessarily the best thing. After only being friends with Squalo for a little over two months, he was well aware that the other boy loved swords and wanted to be the best in the future. "In how much of that practice is footwork necessary?"

"Voi! Footwork is key to a solid-!" Squalo cut off his exuberant rant as he realized the point Kazumi was making. "Damn it!"

Kazumi wondered if he should be concerned that a normal four year old cussed as much as Squalo did. He shrugged internally and decided that it didn't really matter, he had already become attached to the boy and Squalo wouldn't be Squalo if he was quiet and polite.

"Hn. I can reasonably assume that your footwork has improved recently, hasn't it?"

Squalo's face tinged pink.

"Hn."

"Don't 'Hn' me! And stop smirking! Even though it doesn't look like it I can tell you are! Stop it!"

Kazumi smiled, just a bit, and poked Squalo on the forehead with two fingers.

Squalo paused and blinked at the action, before – "Voi! Don't poke me, Kazumi!"

 **14.**

And so life fell into a leisurely pattern for Kazumi. He would study during the week, whatever subject that caught his fancy (he was officially 'home schooled' but didn't really follow any set curriculum), while his mother was at her 'normal' job (she was a waitress at a café – which was strangely how she had met his sperm donor in the beginning). When she came home they would watch random t.v shows and occasionally catch a game of baseball that his mother seemed to love. Before he went to bed (and before his mother would leave to go to her real job) he would call Squalo and chat, or rather Squalo would nearly blow his eardrums out and Kazumi would silently listen and occasionally add his opinion or comment.

His mother didn't take jobs –of either kind- on the weekend so they would head off to Mafia Land to visit the Superbis so that Katarina and his mother could spend time together as well as Kazumi and Squalo. Their dancing lessons progressed much to Squalo's grumbling – though he had admitted that he was more agile now after he had begun the lessons- and they had gotten quite good together. (Their mother's had to have gathered pictures numbering in the hundreds, and yet they still continued to take more). Once the teacher had tried to split them up to give the little girls taking lessons a chance to dance with a male their size – let's just say Squalo managed to make twenty girls quit in tears. The teacher never tried that again.

Occasionally, his mother would have to go off on a week-long hit that was out of the country. During those times he was left with the Superbis. While Squalo's parents were at work, Kazumi would work with Squalo on his languages or any other subject he had trouble with. When the elder Superbis got home, Squalo's father would whisk Squalo off to the dojo to train, leaving Kazumi with Katarina. Katarina would tell him about the different patients she had seen that particular day, and explain the healing procedure to him. While he enjoyed listening to the different medical practices, he always had the distinct feeling that she was withholding some information from him. (Eventually, he used stealth tactics to acquire intelligence about the 'Dying Will Flames' that were used within the mafia. Aka, he eavesdropped on them. He later on discovered that apparently, every human on the planet possessed a Dying Will but not every human had active flames…but strangely he didn't have flames at all as far as he could tell, but then again he didn't exactly know what he was feeling for so, he just might not be able to recognize theses 'flames').

Over the years he slowly felt the return of his chakra and sharingan (it was disturbing that those cursed eyes could follow him into a new life and body, no matter how much he looked like himself in his previous life), and his studying slowly lessened as he began to retrain himself. He was, by nature, a pacifist. However, even in this would without shinobi, there were dangers that he wanted to be strong enough to protect his loved ones from. So, he trained. And slowly he began to regain his former strength; he also regained his former weaknesses. (He managed to hide the blood from everyone even Squalo, who over time had forgotten the specifics of how they met).

No one was aware of his physical training or fighting prowess, and he didn't feel the need to enlighten anyone either.

Otherwise, his years passed rather uneventfully, until his mother introduced him to her boyfriend.

 **15.**

He wasn't surprised when his mother introduced him to Yamamoto Tsuyoshi soon after his seventh birthday. If anything it surprised Kazumi that it hadn't happened sooner. His mother was a beautiful woman, inside and out. Any man would be fortunate to have her love (he was lucky to be her son), and only a fool would let her go (a fool like his sire). So, he supposed that he could honestly say he had been expecting something like this to happen.

Yamamoto-san was an accomplished swordsman (what was up with him meeting swordsmen?) that was a fairly successful hitman for a small famiglia that had Japanese ties. Kazumi's mother had met him at her 'normal' job and accidently again at her real job. Apparently, despite their initial wariness of each other due to their same profession, they had managed to hit it off after several casual meetings and had been dating for about a year. His mother had been withholding the information of his existence to protect Kazumi in case Yamamoto turned on her, but she had discovered that he was a truly good man and decided to let the two most important men in her life meet. (It hurt him that his mother hadn't told him that she was dating anyone and it made him re-evaluate himself since he wasn't able to detect that she was hiding anything from him.)

After introducing them both, his mother went into the kitchen to start making dinner.

An awkward silence fell as the man looked at Kazumi, who was waiting with a blank expression to see what the man would do.

"Ah, sou…Kazumi-kun," Yamamoto-san scratched the back of his head as the man searched for something to say. "Do you like baseball like your okaa-san?"

"Hn. It's better than most sports." He was not going to make this easy for the man. His mother deserved the best, and if this man wasn't up to par, Kazumi would remove him. (He wouldn't kill the man but he would get rid of him, one way or another).

"Oh…do you like sushi, Kazumi-kun?"

Kazumi gave him a deadpan stare.

"Well, I suppose you wouldn't be Japanese if you didn't like sushi. Guess that wasn't the best question… So, what is your favorite food?"

"Dango."

Yamamoto smiled widely. "Is that so? I happen to know how to make dango, would you like to learn this weekend?"

Tempting offer very tempting.

"No." His face turned slightly pouty, though he knew the expression made him look mad to anyone who didn't know him.

The man looked taken aback. "O-okay then. If you don't want to –"

Then his mother walked back into the room laughing, cutting Yamamoto-san off. "Oh, he would like that very much I imagine. Wouldn't you Kazumi? Unfortunately, he can't on the weekends. Weekends are reserved for his dancing lessons and playing with Squalo."

"Squalo?" Yamamoto-san asked, looking very relieved to have Kazumi's mother back in the room. "Is Squalo a friend of yours Kazumi-kun?"

"Hn." Kazumi nodded.

"And you two take dancing lesson together? Do you enjoy them?" His mother once more retreated from the room, and Kazumi couldn't think of any reason she had come back to the living room in the first place.

"Yes." He indeed had begun to enjoy dancing over the years. His mind went blank while dancing and he was allowed to just let his body move mindlessly with the music. He and Squalo were quite proficient, and Squalo's father had even contemplated taking up dance to improve his footwork as well.

"Hm." Yamamoto-san said, rubbing his chin before continuing. "I'm starting to get that you're a man of few words, Kazumi-kun. I can appreciate that. Do you think that if I came with you and your mother this weekend, Squalo-kun would want to learn to make dango with us? Or if not dango something else, I'm quite a good chef, so I could probably try and teach you and your friend to cook just about anything if you like."

Kazumi thought back to Squalo's attempts at cooking, well, anything. They were not pleasant memories, Squalo couldn't cook to save his life, in fact, he was sure that some of what Squalo had (attempted) to help Katarina cook could take someone's life. But if this man was willing to try and teach two seven year olds how to cook something, just so he could get along with his girlfriend's son, well, he would give the man a chance.

"Hn. Dango." Kazumi said.

Yamamoto-san looked perplexed for a moment, and then the realization that Kazumi had agreed spread a smile across his face. "Okay, I'll make sure to have the ingredients ready before we leave for the weekend, and I'll have to check with your mom to see when that is."

The man continued to ask questions, and receive very short (but gradually growing longer) answers from Kazumi. He began to understand that Kazumi took a while to warm up to someone, and was especially cautious around the older male because he was dating his mother.

After a great dinner, during which his mother and Yamamoto-san chatted with ease belaying their closeness, Yamamoto-san pulled Kazumi aside to speak with him. The man crouched on his knees, getting at Kazumi's level, which he appreciated (it made it easier to use the sharingan if he decided it was necessary), and began to speak. "I know we just met today Kazumi-kun, and I realize that a strange man coming into your life probably isn't something you want, but… Please understand, Kazumi-kun, I really do love your mother, I would do anything for her. I've considered quitting the mafia life and proposing to her. I'm very serious about her. And though I wish I had met you earlier, so that we could have been more accustomed to each other, don't doubt that I do want to get to know you. After all, you are the love of my life's son. So, I would appreciate it if you would let me have the chance to get to know you, if you think that's possible."

Kazumi left the man in suspense for several minutes as he ran over the words Yamamoto-san had said. He could tell the words were sincere, and from what he had seen at dinner the man did make his mother very happy…a happiness that he as her son was unable to provide. He found it difficult to believe that many men would have reacted as well as Yamamoto-san had about discovering their girlfriend of a year had been hiding the fact that she had a son…

"Fine." Yamamoto-san smiled, radiating pure happiness.

"Thank you, Kazumi-kun."

"Hn. If you hurt her, I will ensure that you regret it."

Yamamoto-san nodded seriously, his smile fading. "I'll gladly let you, if I do anything to hurt her."

"Hn." Kazumi was glad they were on the same page.

 **16.**

" _Voi! Your mom did what!"_ Squalo yelled through the phone, that night after Yamamoto-san went home.

"She's been dating someone for a year. He didn't know about me and I didn't know about him."

Squalo snickered. _"When you put it like that it makes it sound like she was cheating on the two of you. But damn! Your mom is such a badass!"_

"Hn." Kazumi had to agree with that.

" _Voi! You know it! So, this Yamamoto- your mom's boyfriend, is coming with you guys this weekend? Going to teach us to make dango!?"_ Squalo laughed, as he did everything else, loudly. _"He must not know that I can't cook worth a damn! But I guess you'll enjoy it. You love dango!"_

"I do. Do try to not make a mess of it this weekend."

" _Yeah, yeah! I'll try to keep from ruining your precious dango!"_

 **17.**

That weekend proved to be a learning experience. It turned out that the only thing that Squalo could cook right was dango, while…Yamamoto-san told Kazumi he had no idea how Kazumi had done what he had to the dango.

Kazumi pouted, but Squalo, once he had stopped laughing at Kazumi's inability to make his favorite food, promised him that he would make Kazumi dango anytime he wanted (since it was the only thing the white haired boy could cook). Kazumi cheered up a bit and gladly took Squalo up on his offer, requesting a batch every time he saw Squalo.

"Voi! But we always go out for dango after our lessons anyway!" Squalo protested. This resulted in Kazumi faking a pout to draw Squalo near. Once his friend was close enough…

"Voi! How many times have I told you?! Stop poking me in the forehead, Kazumi!"

Kazumi smiled and stole a dango from Squalo's batch (his own being utterly unacceptable for human consumption). Overall, very good weekend.

 **18.**

"Kazumi-kun?"

"Hn?" Kazumi acknowledged, Yamamoto-san. It had been a few months since his mother had introduced the older man and her son, and Yamamoto-san had become a regular in their home and during their weekend trips. He had even secured himself a spot in his mother's photo album (courtesy of the weekend Kazumi learned of inability to make dango).

"Listen, Kazumi-kun… I realize this might be a bit fast for you, but- I plan on proposing to your mother, and I would like to have your blessing." Yamamoto-san said, looking at Kazumi dead in the eye (oh, how simple it would be to place the man under a genjustu…).

This…wasn't entirely unexpected since his mother and Yamamoto-san had been dating for over a year. And while Kazumi didn't entirely like the idea of his mother getting married to a man he had only known a few months- he knew that Yamamoto-san was a good man, who truly would do right by his mother. Plus Yamamoto-san made his mother happy, and, as he had previously realized: he couldn't hate anything that made her happy (that realization had also extended to Squalo as well).

"You plan to quit the mafia if she says yes correct?"

"Yes, I've already discussed it with my boss. I was thinking that we could move to my home town, Nanimori, Japan."

"How do you plan to support my mother?"

Yamamoto internally sweat-dropped, this was like talking to the father of the bride. "I plan to open a sushi restaurant. I'm a licensed sushi chef."

"Fine. You have my blessing to ask her." Kazumi's eyes flashed red. "But if you ever make her unhappy, you won't live to regret it."

He left the room, leaving Yamamoto-san wondering if he had imagined the young boy's eyes turning a sinister shade of red.

The next day Yamamoto-san arrived at Kazumi and his mother's apartment before his mother got off work for the evening. He was let in by Kazumi and proceeded to prepare a romantic meal for the woman he was in love with. When Kazumi's mother arrived home, he was in his room reading, already having ate something Yamamoto-san had prepared him in advance. It wasn't long before his mother was screaming, "Yes! Yes! Of course, I'll marry you Tsuyoshi! Yes!"

Well, whatever made his mother that happy, couldn't be a bad thing in his books.

 **19.**

"You're what!" Squalo screamed in surprise, smashing Kazumi's toes like he hadn't done in years.

Flinching, but continuing the dance (they had done the waltz, salsa, samba, and many more over the years), "Watch where you're stepping."

"Who cares about that?!"

"I do." Kazumi said but was promptly ignored.

"What do you mean you're moving to Japan?! Voi!"

Kazumi huffed. "I told you on the phone. Yamamoto-san proposed to mom and we're moving to Japan."

"Why!?"

Kazumi gave Squalo a blank look. "You do recall that all of us are Japanese?"

"You're half Italian!"

He was, though he really didn't look like it. "That's beside the point." Kazumi sighed. "Okaa-san and Yamamoto-san are retiring from the mafia. Though some famiglias do have connections in Japan the number of mafia that are actually there are much lower. So we are leaving." It also helped that the clients that his mother had infuriated years before had been wiped out by a rivaling family (it had been a yakuza family).

As much as he hated to leave Squalo, he didn't really have much choice in the matter, he was only seven, and he didn't want to leave his mother (his only family) either.

Squalo looked very upset. "Voi! But we won't be able to have lessons! Or hang out on weekends anymore!"

"I know."

"This is fucking awful!"

Kazumi couldn't help but agree with that statement.

After that Kazumi convinced his mother to allow him to stay over at Squalo's house until the wedding (and the immediate departure for Japan that followed). She had been hesitant, and questioned him if he were angry at her for getting married.

"I'm not angry at you. He makes you happy. I'm just sad to be leaving Squalo."

"Oh, my baby! I'm so sorry, I know this is difficult for you, but now you can be pen-pals. And I promise that you can call him every week to keep in touch, don't worry about the international service fees." (When, he relayed this information to Squalo it did cheer the boy up, if even just a little.)

 **20.**

All together Kazumi stayed with the Superbis for two months, it was odd how clingy Squalo acted the entire time, but it could be excused, even though it did upset Kazumi to see his friend so unlike himself.

One night while Kazumi was staying with Squalo, the other boy asked, "Voi! Why do you keep your hair so long!? It makes you look like a girl, Kazumi!"

"Hn. I once heard that if you want a wish to come true, you can't cut your hair or it won't happen."

Squalo gave him a look that indicated the white haired boy thought that was crazy. "Voi! Is that some weird Japanese legend?!"

"I am not sure. Just something I've read, but I can't remember where."

"What's your wish?!"

Kazumi didn't respond but reached towards Squalo and poked him on the forehead with two fingers.

"Voi! I've told you a million times! Don't poke me, Kazumi! Stop smirking!"

Kazumi just smiled.

 **21.**

His mother got married two months after his eighth birthday.

The wedding was short, simple, and sweet. His mother didn't stop smiling the entire time as he walked her down the aisle.

They were on a plane to Japan first thing in the morning. (Kazumi got the feeling that they had used his two months at the Supebis as their honeymoon).

 **22**.

Soon after they had settled in Japan, Kazumi's mother got him to take a placement test to see where he was from all of his self-education. Every adult, other than his mother, was astonished when he had easily scored high enough to advance directly on to college. Kazumi decided to help out Yamamoto-san in his shop until he was at least ten, before he left to further his education formally. That way he could continue his shinobi training for a few more years without having to worry too much about school.

Every day Kazumi sat down at the laptop his mother had bought for him after the move and emailed Squalo. Once a week the two friends were allowed to call each other.

About six weeks after Kazumi had arrived in Japan Squalo informed him that he was going to be enrolled in the Mafia Academy. While Kazumi found that that was a clear indication of what his friend was going to do with his future, he found himself unable to say anything bad about Squalo's choice. So he merely told Squalo that he had better continue to keep in contact with him, which led Squalo to reply that if Kazumi made any other friends than him, Squalo would come and chop them up into little pieces. Kazumi was beginning to realize that it was not only him who was a little overprotective (possessive) of those he cared about.

Exactly two months after the move Kazumi's mother and Yamamoto told him that he was going to have a little brother.

The news horrified him. What if he ended up traumatizing this brother just as he had done Sasuke? What if his little brother hated him? What if he killed him? What if he wasn't strong enough to protect him?

 **23.**

The conversation he had with Squalo that night went like this:

"… _so, this idiot blond kid is so useless! He tripped over nothing during the obstacle course and landed face first in the snake pit!"_

"Hn?"

" _Oh, yeah! My other classes are going good! You really helped me out with all that language practice we used to do! Mafia Etiquette is so damned useless! Though I wish you were here for the mandatory ballroom dancing class they make us take! Ugh! Trash here can't dance worth a damn! I refuse to dance with those incompetent fucks!"_

"Hn."

" _Voi! What's your problem!? You're being too quiet! Even for you!"_ Squalo said, always too perceptive of his moods.

"…I'm going to be a big brother."

A moment of pause. _"You don't sound excited about that."_

"Hn."

" _Voi! Don't try and change the subject! You're going to be the best big brother in the world! That kid'll be lucky to be related to you! So stop worrying, or I'll come to Japan and kick your ass!"_

"Hn." Kazumi snorted.

" _Voi! I can totally kick your girly ass! Just for that – no dango for you next time I see you!"_

"Hn."

" _Stop pouting! I know you are –hey don't mentally poke me! I know you're thinking about doing it!"_

Ah, Squalo always had such a way of making him feel better.

 **24.**

The next day he disappeared for several hours to train. He worked himself into the ground. He worked until he was choking on his own blood. He used the sharingan till streams of crimson tears flowed down his cheeks. He destroyed several square miles of forest.

He returned home that night with a clearer mind, and a determined fervor to protect his future little brother.

Neither his mother nor Yamamoto-san asked where he had been all day, but he did receive many concerned looks and extra dango after dinner.

 **25.**

Seven months later, on April 24, 19XX, Yamamoto Takeshi was welcomed to the world. On that same day, Inoue Tomoko said good-bye to the world.

Kazumi cried silently as he held his new brother in his arms. He was only a few hours old but he was smiling widely, unaware of the loss his family had suffered.

Takeshi-chan, Kazumi had noted, as he stared at the innocent creature, had the same amber eyes as their mother.

Despite the loss Take-chan's birth had caused, he couldn't bring himself to begrudge his little brother. Before his mother had passed on she had looked just so happy during the few moments she was able to hold her newborn son.

He couldn't hate anything that made her happy. It didn't hurt that Take-chan was absolutely adorable.

 **26**.

A week later a sleep deprived Kazumi answered the door to the restaurant to find Squalo at his doorsteps. Kazumi was pulled into a tight hug. Neither said anything.

When Kazumi introduced Squalo to Take-chan after that, the white haired boy scrunched up his nose. "Voi! Why does he look so weird?!"

Kazumi really had to have been sleep deprived if he had allowed Squalo, of all people, around a sleeping baby that he had just managed to put to bed.

Then he remembered something else. He squinted a bit and looked at Squalo. "You didn't bring me dango. We are supposed to have dango every time we see each other."

"Voi! I fly all the way from fucking Italy, just to see you, and you expect me to bring dango too!"

"Hn." Kazumi said nodding as he tried to rock Take-chan back to sleep.

"You are so demanding!"

Nevertheless, Kazumi got his dango before Squalo had to catch his return flight. (Yamamoto-san made sure to take pictures for the photo album of Squalo, Kazumi, and Take-chan together.)

 **27.**

Dino Cavallone was a klutz, he was weak, he didn't want to be the boss of his famiglia, and he certainly did not want to be Squalo Superbi's roommate at the Mafia Academy. Heck, he really didn't want to be at the Mafia Academy, period, but if he had to be there at all he would much prefer being at the Academy without sharing a room with _him._

Squalo Superbi was just as his name described him to be. The white haired boy was as mean and vicious as a shark and full of pride, and loudly displayed it. On the very first day Superbi had arrived at the school he had gotten in a fight with ten older boys from the middle school division. The entire school was astonished and wary when he walked away with only a few scrapes and bruises.

The boys he had fought were laid up in the hospital in the intensive care unit for a month.

After that incident some high schoolers decided to test the elementary school boy. Again, Superbi had walked away virtually unscathed while his opponents had to be rushed to the hospital. No one, and he meant no one messed with Superbi after that unless they were just that desperate for a fight or had no common sense at all.

People were wary to approach him, but some of the heirs to Famiglias did try to sway him to join their families. He turned every offer down, quite harshly. And a few brave, or stupid one, people approached him in the beginning, offering to help him with his homework or study. Those were laughed at to their faces. Later, when the midterm exam results were posted, and Squalo Superbi's name was posted at the top of the score board, everyone found out why he had reacted to the offers as he did. So as time passed the entire school classified Squalo Superbi as a terrifying loner who was not to be messed with.

Unfortunately, being his roommate, it was impossible for Dino to escape the terrifying boy.

As the school year progressed, Dino began noticing some of Superbi's habits. Every morning he would get up, turn on his laptop and check his email (he had been able to catch a glimpse of the computer screen one morning), and once a week Superbi would be up in the early hours of the morning (for about two hours) on the phone speaking what Dino could vaguely recognize as Japanese.

Dino had no idea who Superbi was speaking to, but whenever Superbi was on the phone with whoever it was the scary boy had the happiest expression Dino had ever seen on his roommates face.

Then one day, about nine months after Superbi had started at the Academy he received one of his usual phone calls, but this time Dino noticed he was unusually quiet as he listened to the other voice on the line. Though, Dino didn't know Japanese, it appeared that Superbi was trying to console whoever was on the line. About a week after that particular conversation Superbi left the campus for three days, and no one knew where he was. Dino heard that the teachers had contacted his parents and they assured the officials that their son would, indeed, return to school. From the rumors, he heard they didn't elaborate on why their son had disappeared.

But Superbi returned and things continued as they had previously.

 **28.**

Takeshi was a much happier baby than Sasuke had ever been. And that was really saying something. After the first two months (during which Kazumi had been regulated to Take-chan duty permanently, because Yamamoto-san was so busy with the restaurant (and very stressed because he suddenly had two children and was without his wife). Not that Kazumi minded, though it did cut into his training time; he loved being able to bond with his brother), Take-chan was always smiling and giggling, he rarely ever fussed.

Kazumi would spend most of his day feeding, holding, and playing with Take-chan. From what he could tell the child was utterly taken with him; the only times Take-chan ever _did_ fuss was when Kazumi left his sight. This meant that Kazumi rarely left Take-chan for anything because he didn't want to upset the little boy.

"Looks like Takeshi loves his onii-chan very much. He can't stand to be away from you." Yamamoto-san had commented once, wistfully. This was after Take-chan had begun to crawl – and subsequently followed Kazumi everywhere.

"Hn." Kazumi had nodded in agreement, as he had picked up Take-chan. The baby (or rather, nine month old) smiled and giggled bubbly, patting his stoic older brother on the cheeks.

Kazumi had smiled, just a bit, and kissed Take-chan on the forehead. (Yamamoto-san had slyly pulled out the camera and managed to get the perfect picture of the moment to put in the photo album.)

 **29.**

Kazumi's training time may have suffered, but he was at a level he was satisfied with. The time he spent with his brother made him unbearably happy and filled the gap in his heart that his mother's death (and his separation from Sasuke) had left.

 **30.**

Shortly after Takeshi's first birthday (Squalo had turned ten earlier in March and Kazumi's tenth birthday was approaching in June), Squalo asked Kazumi to come and visit him at the Mafia Academy. Apparently, the school was hosting a fighting tournament that was open to the community (the mafia community that is) to come watch. Squalo, of course, was participating, and wanted Kazumi to come watch.

" _Voi! You've got to come watch me slice up all these trashs' asses_!"

"Hn?" Kazumi did want to come support his friend, and he had no problem about flying to Italy alone, or being in a crowed made up completely of mafia;he was worried about leaving his brother for a week.

" _Y_ o _u can bring Take-chan if you have to_!"

"No." There was no way he was taking his precious brother anywhere with the word 'mafia' involved, at least while he was so young (he had learned about how bad it was to control another person's actions from Sasuke. After all, the road to Hell was paved with the best of intentions.).

" _Voi! Then stop fretting over him! He'll survive with just Yamamoto for a week! The man is his fucking father!_ "

"...True." Kazumi admitted.

" _Of course I'm right! You're ass had better be on a plane to Italy next week!_ " Squalo threatened.

And that was the extent of that conversation. Kazumi, was indeed on a plane the next week headed to Italy.

 **31.**

Katarina Superbi awaited him when he arrived at the airport. She pulled him immediately into a tight hug. Kazumi didn't really like other people besides Squalo and Takeshi (and his mother when she was alive) touching him, but he tolerated it from his best friend's mother.

"You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!" She exclaimed, sounding a little like her son as she did.

"Hn." He nodded in agreement.

She sighed with a smile on her face as they got into the rental car. "You still speak about as much as you used to. How you put up with Squalo I've never been able to figure out."

Kazumi smiled a short smile at her in response, but didn't answer. He didn't know how he managed to get along with Squalo as well as he did. All he really knew was that Sqaulo was the best friend he had ever had, and wasn't about to question how it had happened.

"Are you staying to watch?" He asked, referring to the tournament.

She sighed dramatically. "Unfortunately, no. Can't get off of work. Squalo's father isn't going to be there either; can't step away from the shop that long." She gave him a maniacal grin. "So that's why I'm so happy that you're going. Make sure to get plenty of pictures, okay?" He got the feeling that the unstated 'or else' was very much implied. So he nodded and took the camera without complaint when she let him out on the school grounds. He had a week's worth of luggage in his duffle bag, a visitor's pass so that he wouldn't get kicked off the grounds, and the dorm building and room number to find where Squalo's dorm was (he arrived while classes were in session).

Now all he had to do was find Squalo. But first he was going to drop his things off at Squalo's dorm room.

 **32.**

Dino was sick and it was all his roommate's fault.

Superbi had been acting strange all week, stranger than normal, that is. He had gone around school creeping everyone (including the teachers) out by smiling and being in an overall great mood. Squalo Superbi never acted like that. The entire school's population had been hounding Dino, asking him what was up with Superbi; he did't know and he suspected he really didn't want to find out. It was so strange and disturbing that Dino was hoping that Superbi's good mood would end and the frightening boy would return the the scowling, cussing, sword swinging, death threat throwing, and the generally terrifying human being that used to terrorize the school.

How was it Superbi's fault that Dino was sick?

The stress from dealing with the downright strangeness of Superbi's behavior, on top of the stress he already accrued just from living with the white haired boy, had caused him to develop a stomach ulcer. He was too young for that!

But regardless, the school nurse had allowed him to be excused from class today so that he could rest. So, he had the room, blissfully to himself for the entire morning. Dino had never been so at peace in his dorm room since Suberbi had moved in.

He was relaxing on his bed (obviously his because his side of the room was rather...messy in comparison to Superbi's) when a knock sounded on the door.

Weird, no one ever came to his and Superbi's rooms, mostly due to the fact that no one wanted to get too close to Superbi -heck even Dino tried to avoid spending too much time in the room. Regardless, he called for the person to come in, the door was unlocked.

A boy about Dino's age, of obvious Asian descent opened the door and took a step inside the room. The boy had long bangs on each side of his face that nearly reached his shoulders and the rest of his hair was pulled back into a long pony-tail. He was dressed in black jeans and a blood red button down shirt with a large neck and a dark gray button up v-neck sweater over it with the sleeves bunched up around his elbows, the red and black theme continued to his shoes, which were black with little red clouds outlined in white. Dino also caught a glimpse of the boys nails and they were pained purple (how weird). The boy had sharp black eyes and a blank expression, he gave off a vibe that Dino couldn't really pin-point. However, there was one thing Dino could conclude (besides the fact that the boy was rather- pretty- for a boy) he had never seen this kid before.

Maybe he was a new student who had gotten lost?

Dino mourned the loss of his comfortable spot on his bed as he got up to speak to the boy.

"Are you new here?'

The boy paused for a moment before nodding.

"Okay then, I'm Dino Cavallone. I'm afraid you're in the wrong room, this one's already occupied by me and my roommate." Dino explained with a smile.

The boy completely ignored what he had said and went about setting his things down...Oh god!, on Superbi's side of the room, on his bed!

"Inoue Kazumi." The boy -Inoue (Dino vaguely wondered which was his first name), introduced.

Dino was nervous at the boy's action and stuttered as he tried to inform Inoue why that was a really, really bad idea. "Umm-I-inoue, you m-might not want to leave your things there. That's my roommate's side and he doesn't l-like it when people mess with his stuff." Really, Superbi had cut off one person's fingers when they had been stupid enough to touch Squalo's sword during the physical training class.

"Besides, this can't be your room. This is a two bed suite." Dino tried to get Inoue to understand. Why hadn't a teacher shown this kid around, or something?

"So, I see." Inoue said. However, he made no move to remove his things from where he had placed them, which made Dino sweat-drop internally.

"O-okay, I guess you can leave your things here until you find your room." Dino's voice got softer as he trailed off. It was disturbing, that blank expression that Inoue was looking at him with. "Um... Is there anything I can help you with?"

Inoue tilted his head. "Take me to Squalo Superbi."

Oh god! This was one of those crazy people that had randomly shown up at the school to challenge Superbi to a fight after hearing his reputation! Dino had never seen one in person but had heard the rumors that floated around the school. None of the people who had come specifically to fight with Superbi were ever seen again after their trip to the hospital.

This poor delusional fool.

Regardless, he would lead Inoue to Superbi (he knew Superbi's schedule like he did his own, so that he could avoid the white haired shark), even though he knew he was leading the boy to his own demise.

 **33.**

Squalo hadn't exaggerated that was for sure. His roommate was really entertaining to mess with.

The boy had been sweating with nerves since Kazumi had set his duffle bag on Squalo's bed. And when he had mentioned that he wanted to be taken to Squalo the Cavallone heir looked as if he was going to have a heart attack (really what had Squalo done to the poor boy), and as he lead Kazumi to where Squalo the blond kept alternating between glancing at him in pity and looking as if he was walking to an execution. It was truly ridiculous. Squalo wasn't that bad (okay, he was but it was still absurd).

Regardless, it was amusing to watch.

 **34.**

Dino was terrified for Inoue even more than he had already been when they actually found Suberbi. He was in the court yard -like he normally was during lunch time- and apparently one of the rare idiots in the school (they were rare because Superbi had almost wiped out the 'incompetent trash' population in the school) had decided to confront Superbi about how weird he had been acting. What an idiot.

Dino had frozen still when he saw Superbi wailing on the guy. Inoue, however...(oh god the kid was going to die) actually _went up behind Superbi and tapped him on the shoulder!_ Dino mentally prepared himself for a bloodbath and squeezed his eyes shut (he was the only one around, the rest had fled when Superbi had attacked the other student).

"VOI!"

Dino opened his eyes in time to see Superbi turn around angrily to see who had interrupted him and make his signature yell. Inoue tapped Superbi on the forehead causing him to pause, Superbi's face lost all its anger, and he threw the bloodied boy who had annoyed him on the ground (the idiot scrambled to his feet and stumbled away as fast as he could). To Dino's utter shock, Superbi didn't attack Inoue, in fact, Dino's mouth fell wide open as Superbi's face burst into a wide smile, and picked up Inoue and gave him a violent - hug?

What the ever-loving hell?

"Voi! Kazumi! You're here!" Superbi yelled -happily?

"Hn. You knew I was coming. Who was it who told me that I 'had better have my ass on the plane'?"

Superbi laughed exuberantly. "Yeah, Yeah! Great to see you, too! It's always so fucking weird to hear you cuss, Kazumi!"

"Hn." Inoue nodded, and released himself from Superbi's grip. "Dango."

"So damned demanding!" Superbi complained, but went digging through the bag that was crossed over his shoulder. Withdrawing a small cardboard carton that Dino watched him hand over to Inoue. They companionably sat down on the nearby fountain wall and began to eat the strange food that was inside the carton Superbi had handed over.

Dino's mind was officially blown.

 **35.**

By supper the entire school was aware that there was someone that Squalo Superbi actually liked. The story had apparently been started by someone who had been watching Superbi fight (beat the hell out of) the other student from a safe distance (the roof). The rumor mills were buzzing like crazy and it wasn't uncommon for one girl or guy to be seen running from clique to clique spreading the different theories and suggestions across the elementary, middle, and high schools. Hell, even the faculty was having a conference over the subject (though they also did question why a civilian was at the school in the first place, because they had never heard of an Inoue before -Katarina had had to register Kazumi so that she could get him the guest pass, and retired hitmen's kids didn't count as active mafia, just really convenient targets if someone held a grudge).

Everyone wanted to see the person that actually managed to be around Superbi without getting sent to the hospital.

 **36.**

Kazumi was a bit exasperated by the look Dino Cavallone was shooting him. It was a cross between sheer disbelief and horror.

It was ridiculous. As had been all the students crowding, trying to get a glimpse of him as the three of them had been walking (Dino was drug by Squalo by his collar) back to Squalo's dorm. Really, all he had done was speak to his best friend and now he was just laying on said best friend's bed, it wasn't that unusual.

"Squalo." Said Kazumi as said friend walked out of the bathroom in his pajama's (ones that Kazumi had sent him this past Christmas - they were blue with little sharks on them).

"What!?" Squalo asked as he shifted through one of his dresser drawers for something.

"What have you done to this school's population that you haven't told me?"

Squalo snorted. "I did tell you! I cut up the scum that thought they could fuck with me!" Squalo found what he had been searching for and made his way over to Kazumi, plopping down on the mattress beside his friend.

"Hn. And a school filled with mafioso children are scared of you-?"

"Weak trash! All of them!" Squalo declared, giving a pointed glare a the blond in the room, who almost visibly wilted.

"Squalo. Play nice. You have to live with Cavallone. You don't want to drive him to killing you out of fear while you sleep." Kazumi said absently as he took the cell phone Squalo had handed him. Punching in the numbers, he had to restrain himself from snorting as he saw Squalo giving an even paler Cavallone a speculating gaze.

"Voi! I doubt it!" Squalo decided, yet seemed to be contemplating the idea, finding it amusing.

"Hn. Quiet now -phone." Kazumi said.

"You are so demanding!"

Kazumi glared, silencing him. Cavallone was in the fetal position on his bed.

 **37.**

Tsuyoshi had never really realized how much he had come to depend on Kazumi for taking care of Takeshi. The boy hadn't even been gone for twenty-four hour and he was already at a complete loss at what to do with _his own son._

From the moment Takeshi had realized his older brother wasn't in the house (and the crawling one year old had checked every single room in the house) he hadn't stopped calling for 'Kazu-nii' at first it had been angrily and demanding (as if Tsuyoshi was the one keeping his brother away from him) and slowly as the day had passed it had transformed into a heart wrenching, piteous cry. It was awful. And the worst thing was that nothing Tsuyoshi did helped. He tried putting on Takeshi's favorite movie (Takeshi completely ignored it), gave him his favorite food (which the boy refused to eat), and attempted to get his son to play with his favorite toy (a blow up base ball bat and ball that he was normally fascinated with -probably inherited from Tomoko-, but Takeshi refused to play). By the end of the day he was at his wit's end and Kazumi wasn't even scheduled to come back for another seven days.

It was really tempting to call Kazumi and ask (beg, grovel and beg) him to return to Japan immediately. But...he really wouldn't -couldn't - do that. Kazumi had been such a great help to him, always making sure that Takeshi was taken care of and helping out with the household chores when Tsuyoshi was just too busy with the restaurant to get to them. The boy never complained and hadn't even acted out or begrudged him or Takeshi when Tomoko died. Most children would have rebelled and spewed words of hatred towards the man and child that indirectly helped cause their mother's death. Not Kazumi, he accepted it that it had happened and silently mourned, then had become indispensable to his step-father and younger half-brother. Kazumi had behaved better than anyone would have expected him to be given the circumstances.

It was almost...unnatural. Sometimes, Tsuyoshi would get the oddest notion that Kazumi was just too perfect. He was intelligent beyond belief. He didn't make selfish or childish requests (hell, the boy never asked for anything besides dango). He did his chores (unasked) and (to Tsuyoshi's shame) was nearly raising his brother. It wasn't normal... The boy never went out or tried to make friends his age and besides Squalo he had never seen Kazumi interact with anyone his own age.

He had grown to care for Kazumi as if the child were his own but sometimes...

What was he doing thinking these useless thoughts? He needed to call Kazumi to ask how to get Takeshi to go to sleep because like everything Tsuyoshi had tried to do today the boy just wouldn't cooperate with him.

The phone began ringing. That had to be Kazumi. It was almost amazing how the boy was almost always one step ahead of him.

 **38.**

"Did you sing him his lullaby?" Kazumi questioned after listening worriedly to Yamamoto-san's recounting of his day with Takeshi. On one hand Kazumi was fearing that it had been a very bad idea to leave the two of them home alone (despite how Yamamoto-san was a fully trained hit-man and Takeshi's father). However, on the other he realized that he wasn't going to be around forever and Tsuyoshi and Takeshi had to bond sometime without him.

Nevertheless, it pained him to hear how upset his brother had been over his absence.

" _What lullaby?"_ Yamamoto-san asked after a moment. Belatedly, Kazumi realized that he and Take-chan had always been alone when he sang his brother to sleep, and Yamamoto-san tended to come in to say goodnight when Take-chan was already very drowsy.

"Hn. Never mind. Put me on speaker phone." Kazumi commanded, ignoring Squalo's comment of "Damned demanding."

Yamamoto did as he was told.

 _"_ _I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow and each road leads you where you want to go and if you're faced with a choice and you have to choose I hope you choose the one that means the most to you and if one door opens to another door closed I hope you keep on walkin' 'till you find the window. If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile, but more than anything, more than anything - My wish for your is that this life becomes all that you want it to your dreams stay big your worries stay small you never need to carry more than you can hold and while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to I hope you know somebody love you and wants the same things too Yeah, this is my wish I hope you never look back but you never forget all the ones who love you and the place you left I hope you always forgive and you never regret and you help somebody every chance you get Oh, you find God's grace in every mistake and always give more than you take..."_

Silence reigned on both sides of the phone. On Yamamoto's side of the line Takeshi was smiling for the first time all day and had a arm reaching towards the phone saying "Kazu-nii" and after a few yawns, was fast asleep to Yamamoto's amazement.

"Thank you so much. What song is that?" Yamamoto-san asked.

"My Wish. It's by an American band. I heard it during dance class once." Kazumi said.

"Is it okay if I call you to sing that every day you're in Italy?"

"Hn." Kazumi said nodding.

"...I'm going to take that as a 'It's fine'."

After a few more moments, and wishes of 'good nights' from the both of them, the phone call was concluded.

"Voi! Since when can you sing, Kazumi!?" Squalo asked, still looking a bit surprised.

"Since Take-chan."

Squalo looked as if he was going to bang his head on the wall because of that answer, but settled for snorting, "Of Course! That's just like some shit you would do!"

Kazumi ignored him and went to take a shower. As he passed by Dino's bed the blond said, hesitantly, "I-it sounded great, Inoue."

Kazumi nodded at the complement and continued on to the bathroom.

 **39.**

Almost the instant the door had closed behind Superbi's friend, Dino found himself being pushed against the wall, by a very angry, and very snarling Squalo Superbi.

"Don't you dare try to cozy up to Kazumi, Cavallone. He's my best friend and if you bother him, I'll cut you up into little fucking pieces."Superbi threatened in the quietest tone Dino had ever heard him speak in.

"I-i'll stay away -" Dino tried to convince Superbi, because the white haired boy was more frightening at this very moment than Dino had ever seen him before.

"No! That's not what I'm saying. In fact, it's going to be your fucking job to watch after Kazumi while I'm in the tournament. You might be useless but you are the Cavallone heir and that will get people to back off, scum. What I don't want you to do is be overly annoying and friendly to Kazumi, you got that?" Superbi said shaking Dino.

Dino was really confused but nodded his agreement anyway.

The door to the bathroom opened revealing Inoue who seemed to have forgotten something, the boy with the long black hair stared at them and Superbi was quick to throw his arm around Dino's shoulder (nearly strangling him) and pretended to be joking around saying, "Just 'playing nice' with Cavallone like you told me to! Voi!" Superbi said to Inoue's questioning look.

While Inoue had an expression that clearly said 'who exactly are you trying to fool with that stupid act?', he didn't say anything and retreated to the bathroom once more after he retrieved whatever he had forgotten. Superbi pushed him roughly away and with a final warning glare returned to lounge on his own bed.

Dino sighed heavily. He dreaded however long Inoue was staying if Superbi was going to be like this the entire time.

 **40.**

Once and only once during Kazumi's visit did he attend any class with Squalo (and Dino by fact that they had the same class at the same time - which was odd because it was the only class they had together period because Squalo had managed to skip some grades and was on the track to graduating early). It was Squalo's ballroom dance class. A class that the teacher looked startled when she called the roll and Squalo announced he was present, a rare (non-existent) happening since Squalo had told Kazumi that he had declared the class to be filled with 'incompetent fucks who can't dance worth a damn and I refuse to suffer through a dance class without you, Kazumi'. So it wasn't necessarily shocking that the entire class was shocked.

"So, it appears you are joining us for the first time Superbi. What made you realize this class wasn't "a waste of fucking time"?" the teacher said snootily once she recovered from her astonishment.

Squalo scowled at her. "Voi! I've got a competent partner today! Everyone else is pathetic!"

"Really?" said the teacher skeptically, looking between Squalo and Kazumi. "Then why don't you give a demonstration for the class. That is if you're that confident in your abilities."

Squalo glanced questioningly at Kazumi, a fire of anger and a look that said 'let's shock and awe these scum!'. Kazumi nodded in agreement. People were just so rude sometimes.

"Hn." Kazumi said addressing the teacher, the whole room got quiet - they had never heard the boy accompanying Superbi speak in the days he had been at the Academy so far. "Sensei, is there any particular style you would prefer?"

"Since Mr. Superbi has such confidence in your abilities, how about you show me something contemporary. You can go into the room next door. Surly if your as good as you say you are you can come up with a routine in twenty minutes."

"Voi! You bitch! We haven't danced together in over a year! How the fucking hell-" Squalo yelled angrily to the teacher as Kazumi took his hand an drug him out the door into the next room.

"Hn. Calm down."

"That bitch challenged us! Voi! How the fuck are we supposed to come up with something in twenty minutes?" Squalo fumed.

"It's fine. We've done contemporary before. It might be a little rusty but we'll be fine. Do you remember any of the routine to the "Work Song" by Hozier?"

Squalo calmed for a moment, thinking, before nodding. "Fuck yeah! That was a fun one."

"Hn." Kazumi said in agreement. "Let's pull up the song on the computer over there and run through it to refresh our memories. It won't be difficult. Remember we're _that_ good, isn't that what you've said once."

Squalo laughed manically, "Damn straight! Remember when our old teacher cried when we told her we were quitting!? Old hag thought we could have gone pro in a few years!"

"Hn. Let's stop wasting time."

"Voi! So damned demanding."

* * *

Shock and awe they did.

( _Dance they did can be found on youtube DWTS 20-9 Riker Lynch & Allison Contemporary)_

 **41.**

"Voi!" was the call that sounded throughout the the arena. Kazumi rolled his eyes at the way Cavallone, who was sitting beside him flinched. It was a little pathetic, especially since it was something that had not been uncommon throughout the duration of the tournament. Today was the last day and Squalo had had plenty of opportunity to scream in frustration over the past five days, so really, Cavallone (and the entire audience) should have grown accustomed to the sound by now.

Squalo had of course won; Kazumi, of course, had managed to take hundreds of pictures for Katarina. Everybody won.

During the reception at the end of the day, Kazumi was sitting alone waiting on Squalo to return from getting the both of them drinks (Squalo would have preferred to ask Cavallone to go get them but the blond had run off once Kazumi and Squalo had been reunited after Squalo had finished the final fight. For some reason Squalo was hesitant to leave Kazumi alone in the middle of a Mafia party, which Kazumi was internally amused by.). Squalo had been propositioned by numerous famiglia's in attendance to consider joining their respective families, so far Squalo had dismissed them all.

However, when Squalo returned from getting the drinks he had a look of joy (which on his face looked slightly sadistic).

"Hn?" Kazumi questioned as his friend handed him his strawberry milk (his next favorite food group aside from dango, cabbage, and seaweed onigiri).

"Voi! I just met the guy I plan to follow in the future. He's going to go places, I can tell!" Squalo said grinning widely, and being more exuberant than normal.

Kazumi's eyes narrowed slightly, but didn't comment on that. Once Squalo made up his mind on something it was near impossible to convince him otherwise. He would sometimes listen to Kazumi (even when Squalo's parent's couldn't talk sense into their child), but Kazumi saw the fever in his eyes and recognized that this was not one of those times.

So, he merely said, "Hn. Make sure to introduce me sometime." He needed to know who to kill if something happened to his dearest friend.

"Voi! Of course, Kazumi!" Squalo said, still very happy at his finding.

Kazumi smiled and pressed two fingers to Squalo's forehead.

The usual momentary pause then, "Voi! How many times do I have to fucking tell you! Don't poke me on the damned forehead! Stop your smirking, Kazumi!"

At least this would never change.

 **42.**

The next day Katarina Superbi arrived at the Mafia Academy to pick Kazumi up. He and Squalo had already said their goodbyes the previous night so it was a quick departure. Katarina once more carried most of the conversation as they made the trip to the airport where Kazumi had arrived at and was going to depart from. She occasioanlly got him to speak of his week at the academy, how Squalo did in the tournament, or how hopeless Yamamoto-san was with Takeshi, but ninety-five percent of the words exchanged came from Katarina. She was ecstatic when Kazumi handed over the completely full camera before he boarded the plane (a purposeful tactic on his part so she couldn't wrangle him into a longer hug than she had already managed).

And so, he was soon looking down upon the white clouds, on his way home to Japan.

 **43.**

The moment Kazumi opened the door to TakeSushi he was met by a rather haggard and extremely relieved looking Yamamoto-san and his brother, with snot pouring from his nose and watery eyes, grabbing on tightly to his pants leg as if he would never let go. Yamamoto-san even got him into a hug, which had never happened before.

"Kazu-nii!"

"Thank kami-sama, you're back!" Yamamoto-san said.

"Never leave us again!" They both exclaimed rather desperately as they clung to him.

Kazumi found it rather ridiculous, but couldn't deny it felt nice to be needed.

 **44.**

Soon after Kazumi returned, Yamamoto-san took him and Take-chan to a recording studio so that Kazumi could sing Take-chan's lullaby. That way when Kazumi spent the night away from home Yamamoto-san would be able to get Take-chan to go to sleep.

" _Voi! You did what for that brat brother of yours?!"_ Squalo asked during their weekly talk after the recording had been done - and actually used on occasion when Kazumi and Yamamoto-san wanted to test if the recording worked as well as Kazumi actually singing it. It did.

"There is a word in the sentence you just said you may wish to re-think, Squalo." Kazumi said evenly.

" _Wha-? Oh, fine_ Take-chan _isn't a fucking brat! ...So damned demanding! Still, it's stupid that you had to record yourself singing a lullaby for the kid! You're babying him!"_

"Hn. Take-chan is a baby. He just turned one."

 _"Voi! He's gotta grow up some time!"_ Squalo yelled.

"Squalo. Takeshi is one. He's going to get to be babied for quite some time." Kazumi said, slowly.

" _Just because he can be babied doesn't mean you have to!"_

"I want to."

Squalo grumbled for a moment, before changing the subject. _"Kazumi! What do you want for your birthday!?"_

"Hn. Dango."

 _"Voi! Is that all you ever think of!? Fucking dango!? And that bratty -"_

"Squalo." Kazumi warned.

" _And Take-chan?! You really need to get a damned hobby!"_

Despite Squalo's complaining, a box of fresh dango from a local shop in Namimori was delivered on the ninth of June along with two books. One was a how to draw guide and the other was a book on gardening- he suspected Katarina for the books.

Kazumi was pleased nonetheless. (He had bought Squalo a documentary on Japanese katana for his birthday, which his friend had enjoyed very much.)

 **45.**

During the fall months time passed swiftly. Kazumi continued to watch over Take-chan and made time for Yamamoto-san and Takeshi to bond every chance he got. He applied to several colleges and universities for spring enrollment and was accepted into quite a few with full scholarships. Some of which were: Tokyo Daigaku, Kyoto Daigaku, and Tokyo Institute of Technology and several others.

He considered his options and truly contemplated what he wanted to accomplish in this life. After several months of enjoying the hobby books he had gotten for his birthday (and a few more that Yamamoto-san had gotten for him after the man had seen how much he had enjoyed them), Kazumi had developed a keen interest in design and gardening. He had been previously considering going to study medicine - so that he would be more knowledgeable about his own condition...However, he didn't want to spend his entire life worrying over his health- or lack of- and he felt that if he entered the medical field he would never get away from it. (His hemoptysis and chest pain had been rather constant since his mothers death, and since before it, but he was convinced that he had it under control. He had successfully hidden the condition from everyone and intended to keep it that way.)

So, he decided to attend the Kyoto University of Art and Design to get a degree in the visual creation field and minor in botany. It was an odd course of action, but it was the one he wanted.

Squalo hadn't been terribly enthusiastic about his decision; Kazumi made sure he got over it.

His white haired friend had been focusing lately on working on his swordsmanship, joining something call the Varia, and becoming the sword Emperor. While Kazumi was aware Squalo could take care of himself, Kazumi was determined to check up on his friend's ambitions at some point- just in case. He still was set on meeting whoever Squalo had chosen to be his future boss, but he would would, at some point.

 **46.**

Take-chan threw an absolute fit when he discovered that his brother was going away, and Yamamoto-san managed to get it on the new video camera that he had purchased. (Somehow the recording got to Squalo and strangely enough Squalo approved of Takeshi's reaction).

"No! Kazu-nii stay! Stay! Stay! No leave!" was the daily chant that could be heard around TakeSushi at any given time. This resulted in Kazumi spending even more time with his brother -taking him to baseball games, playing catch, and trying everything to distract him from the upcoming departure. Sometimes it worked some times it didn't.

 _"Voi! Kazumi! That bra- Take-chan, has more sense than you! Why the Hell do you want to go to fucking art school? Sounds damned useless! I can get funking botany -you could learn how to poison someone that way, at least!"_ Squalo commented as they discussed it.

Kazumi refrained from mentioning that he was already well-versed on how to poison, strangle, mutilate, and kill most anyone in any fashion should he desire to. He could even put them into a genjutsu and get them to kill themselves. So, he didn't really get the appeal to learning yet another world's form of killing - especially when he was fairly certain the different ways were going to be quite similar to what he was already trained to do.

So his response to Squalo was: "Hn. That doesn't interest me."

 _"Damn it, Kazumi! I don't get why you want to be so boring! You're going to live a life of incompetent scum if you don't do something!"_

"Squalo, not having interest in joining the mafia or killing anyone does not equal boring." Kazumi deadpanned.

" _Voi! Fucking Hell it doesn't!"_

Kazumi's eyes narrowed and decided to change the subject. "Hn. You're going to have to watch your mouth when you visit. I don't want Take-chan picking up your bad habits from his Squalo-nii."

 _"He's a baby, according to you! What's he going to remember!?"_

"Take-chan is at an impressionable age."

 _"Voi! He'd better fucking not call me 'Squalo-nii'! He's your damned brother!"_

 _"_ Hn. I think it would be cute."

" _What!? Fuck cute! What the Hell are you high on, Kazumi!"_ Screamed Squalo in disbelief.

"In fact," Kazumi said, completely ignoring the horror he was putting his best friend through, "I've already been teaching him how to say it. It's going to be adorable - right? Squ-nii?"

That conversation ended with Squalo threatening to cut Kazumi into little tiny pieces and much violent language. Kazumi listened silently, but snorted when he got off the phone. Like Squalo could actually get the best of him in a fight. Kazumi's friend was good but he had twenty-one extra years of experience. In a match between the two of them, it wouldn't even be close.

 **47.**

The first thing Squalo heard when he opened the door to Kazumi's house was, "Squ-nii!" from a child of not even two years old. He was going to fucking kill his best friend. Unfortunately, before he could draw his swords from his side the elder Yamamoto - sire to the smiling little chibi brat who had called him 'brother'- confiscated his prized swords from his possession.

Quickly he rounded on the man who had taken his weapons, with fucking smirk on his face - "Voi! Give me my fuc-"

Out of practically nowhere, Kazumi appeared beside him and clapped a hand over his mouth cutting off his words with a slight smile on his face.

"Now, now Squalo." Kazumi chided patronizingly. "We discussed this." An uncharacteristic sharpness appeared in his friend's normally gentle eyes. "Watch your language around Take-chan, alright?"

His expression sent chills down Squalo spine, and he was quick to nod at Kazumi's words. "V-voi! Yeah, I'll watch it around the bra- Take-chan." He said back tracking a little, earning a smile from Kazumi.

"Hn." Kazumi nodded.

Yamamoto, the elder, laughed annoyingly and passed his progeny to Kazumi. "It's great that you're here Squalo-kun! Now you and Kazumi-kun can spend some time together before Kazumi here heads off to the big leagues."

"Baseball!" the small child that was somehow related to Squalo's best friend yelled enthusiastically at the words his sire said.

Kazumi laughed softly at his brother's outburst, preventing Squalo from commenting. Squalo watched as Kazumi expertly took Take-chan from Yamamoto's arms into his own.

"Not quite, Take-chan." Kazumi said, causing the small child to pout adorably (not that Squalo believed or would admit to the wording of that statement, it's just that most normal humans would consider the action cute, but not him! Voi!).

"No baseball, Kazu-nii?" Take-chan's amber eyes, nothing like Kazumi's warm black ones, watered with barely restrained tears.

"No, but I'm sure Squ-nii won't mind playing catch with you, hm?" Kazumi said, smiling evilly at him. When those teary eyes turned expectantly on Squalo, he flinched backwards. Damn it! He would not cave to the dastardly effect of those eye! He would not!

The eyes bored into him.

After an hour of playing catch later Squalo collapse on the ground beside Kazumi, who had Take-chan napping happily in his lap.

"Never-fucking-again!" Squalo said quietly as to not wake up the small baseball demon.

Kazumi snorted at him. Fucking snorted at him! and gave him a 'you are pathetic' look.

Squalo realized that he was friends with a devil, and wasn't that a damned laugh. But strangely, he felt that he wouldn't change it for the world.

 **48.**

That following spring Kazumi moved into a boarding house that was near the Kyoto Daigaku campus. The owner, who Yamamoto-san had convinced to 'watch over' Kazumi, was an elderly woman who's deceased husband had left her quite well off but with no children. So apparently, she decided to take what her husband had left her and purchased the large house so that she could rent it out to college students. That way she wouldn't be quite so alone.

The other inhabitants were an odd and varied sort, that Kazumi found it best to have limited contact to. (In fact, the occupants had eerie similarities to his former acquaintances in the Akatsuki, in the worst of ways). For the most part life continued as it had while he had lived in Nanimori: he called Squalo once a week and emailed his white haired friend daily. He communicated with his brother and Yamamoto-san and heard as Takeshi became more interested in baseball and was always asking Kazumi to come home or to come watch him play (as he grew older). Differences were that Kazumi was attending classes, formal classes, for the first time since he was seven in his previous life. It was ... and adjustment, but nothing too terribly difficult. He was now also having to interact with others more frequently than he had ever had to before, whether it was a professor, a classmate, his landlord, or one of his strange housemates, he was forced to be around more people than he had since the Uchiha clan was still in existence.

He honestly did not like it.

While he was surrounded by people, he found it as if he were completely alone. Most of his college colleagues dismissed him out of hand because of his age (it slightly reminded him of his first year in ANBU except for there people had respected his age as a sign of genius). Females would approach him and exclaim over how good looking he was and talk at him as if he were a stupid child. It wasn't long before he began to avoid them completely.

If he wasn't learning new information, then he would be bored out of his mind. The only thing that kept him sane were the nightly calls from his brother and Yamamoto-san, the letters to Squalo and the weekly calls from his best friend.

Before he knew it he had been at Kyoto University for two years. He went home on occasion to visit and he had flown to Italy once during the time to see Squalo in his tournament.

During a break he went home before flying to Italy to watch Squalo for the third time take part in the tournament at the Mafia Academy.

He traveled back to Nanimori without telling Yamamoto-san or Take-chan. He wanted to surprise his precious little brother (who was now nearing four years old).

Yamamoto-san was surprised and very happy to see him when he opened the door to TakeSushi and informed Kazumi that Takeshi was out at the park playing baseball with a group of older boys he had met. Kazumi headed to the local park to pick Takeshi up for dinner, which Yamamoto-san said would be done soon, as he closed up the shop in celebration of Kazumi's visit back home.

When Kazumi arrived at the park, he had expected to see his precious little brother running around happily playing the sport he had inherited his love of from their mother. What he most certainly had not expected was to see his little brother surround by older boys, covered in dirt, crying, as said older boys jeered harsh words at him.

"Go away brat!"

"No one wants to play with a crybaby!"

"Especially one that killed his mom."

"Oh yeah, I heard that from my mom too. Your the reason your mom died!"

"You killed your mom!"

Kazumi's eyes flashed red with his sharingan. He took a moment to remember that the ones he wanted to dismember were children. Foolish children, who were not aware that their actions could lead to their deaths. A deep breath and his eyes returned to their normal black.

He approached the group began picking them of silently, one by one, until there were nine unconscious little children laying on the ground. He knelt before his brother, who hadn't even realized Kazumi was there, for he was crying so much, his head bowed towards the ground.

"Take-chan, don't cry." Kazumi said softly, gaining Takeshi's attention.

"Kazu-nii!" Takeshi exclaimed, his eye read from crying. The boy launched himself into Kazumi's arms and began crying harder than before. Telling his brother of the words the older boys had accused him of.

"Is it true? Kazu-nii, did I kill Okaa-chan?" Pained amber eyes bored into his searching for the truth.

"No. Okaa-san died of complications that arose after you were born. It wasn't anything you caused or could have prevented."

Takeshi gave him a disbelieving look.

"Hn. If you saw the look on her face as she held you, you wouldn't be asking me this." Kazumi gave his brother a look before kissing him on the center of his forehead. "Do you think I would lie to you?"

"Never! Kazu-nii is the best!" Take-chan exclaimed with an almost scandalized expression on his little face.

Kazumi chuckled. The two brothers walked home together. The make-shift family had a terrific dinner together and Kazumi sang Takeshi his lullaby instead of letting the recording do the job for him, and soon Takeshi was asleep after commenting, "It sounds better with you here, Kazu-nii".

Kazumi headed down the stairs and informed Yamamoto-san of what occurred in the park. The man was concerned and promised to make sure Takeshi was better supervised when he went out to play.

"He really misses you when you aren't here." Yamamoto-san said before he headed off to bed himself. He didn't speak the 'and so do I', but Kazumi knew it anyway.

That night as Kazumi looked at his blood soaked hands, he contemplated how much of a liar he really was.

* * *

Kazumi stayed in Nanimori for a week before heading to Italy to meet Squalo.

Take-chan had been reluctant to let him go, but Kazumi managed to avoid a scene at the airport by promising his brother that he was going to spend a week with him when he returned from Italy before heading back to Kyoto.

Katarina Superbi once more met him at the airport, as she had done for the past years. He was accosted by her to have his customary hug and soon enough they were both in the car headed for the Mafia Academy. As like in the previous years, neither Katarina nor Squalo's father were going to be able to come and watch Squalo perform in the tournament (which he he had won all of since the first one three years ago when he was ten), he was dropped off at the school with a camera, and yet another not so subtle threat to take many pictures, or else.

Kazumi quickly made his way to Squalo's dorm room and dropped his duffle bag. He was considering wandering around the school until he came across Squalo, but he, strangely, felt tired. He sat down on Squalo's bed, just so he could check his breathing for a moment, and then he had every intention of heading out.

Before he was aware of it he had fallen asleep, and was awoken by the sound of Squalo attempting to kill Cavallone.

"Voi! Don't make so much damned noise! You'll wake up Kazumi, bastard!" Squalo shouted at the blond, quite counterproductive to what he was chastising Cavallone for.

"Hn. Too late." Kazumi said as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. It was strange for him to have fallen asleep just like that. It probably was a sign that his condition was progressing faster than he had anticipated.

He couldn't bring himself to be too terribly concerned. He knew it was going to happen, it was an unavoidable reality that had to be accepted, he would drive himself insane if he dwelt on the fact that his body was actively working against itself.

"Voi! You woke Kazumi up!"

Kazumi smiled softly as Squalo screamed his abuse at the quivering blond as the white haired boy shook him.

Kazumi intended to enjoy this life while he could.

* * *

Squalo once more won, and before Kazumi knew it he was back in Japan. His week with Yamamoto-san and Take-chan passed quickly as well and ended in tears on Take-chan's part as he and his father saw Kazumi off at the train station when he headed back to Kyoto.

 **49:**

Kazumi graduated from the University of Kyoto with a bachelors degree. The graduation ceremony occurred a few months before Kazumi's fourteenth birthday and by some lucky streak of fate, Kazumi managed to attend Squalo's graduation from the Mafia Academy - he too had graduated early - before having to rush back to Japan to get ready for his own.

Squalo, regretfully - so he managed to confer over a few rushed phone calls, was unable to attend Kazumi's ceremony. Due to something of the effect of " _Voi!_ _I beat the fucking sword Emperor and head of the Varia so I'm really damned busy. I'm sorry, Kazumi!"_

Kazumi would have actually been upset with Squalo if he hadn't had dango delivered to his boarding house in Kyoto as an apology. It also helped that Squalo sent Kazumi an airplane ticket to Italy - the news of an impending visit greatly improved Kazumi's slight ire.

Kazumi was especially looking forward to finally meeting the man that Squalo had decided to follow and the man who Squalo had hand the reigns of the most elite assassination squad over to. (Squalo's emails were much more cohesive and condense than his phone calls these days).

* * *

Squalo woke up the day that he was supposed to pick Kazumi up from the airport. He had set his internal alarm to wake himself up at 5:00AM - Kazumi's flight was supposed to touch down at 8:00AM, he didn't want to make Kazumi wait and the airport was a good ways away from Varia Castle.

Sleepily a yawn escaped from his mouth as he raised his arms into a limber stretch. Rubbing some of the sleep matter that had accumulated during the night he fully opened his eyes only for something to catch his eyes -

There was someone in his damned bed. Fucking hell!

It startled him so badly (more precisely, nearly gave him a damned heart attack!), that he flat out fell of his bed as he reached for one of his swords (momentarily forgetting that he no longer had a left hand to grab anything with).

How the hell had anyone bypassed the security and made it this far into the bowls of the Varia residence without anyone knowing! Squalo was going to have a ...ah chat with the security after this.

He righted himself on the floor and secured a sword in his right hand (he was really going to have to have a sword implanted in his left, it was his dominant hand - it was not going to be pretty when Kazumi heard that he had cut of his hand - he was going to delay that particular conversation for as long as possible) before he could attack the USP (unidentified sleeping person) he felt a slight tap on his forehead.

He dropped his sword and glanced up at Kazumi's sleepy expression as he leaned across Squalo's bed. "Voi! How the hell did you get in here! - Fucking hell! Your damned plane isn't supposed to get here for another three fucking hours!"

Kazumi easily drug him back into his bed as he answered his questions, "I walked through the front door. I went to the airport early and there was a seat on an earlier flight so I exchanged my ticket."

"You walked through the fucking front door!? What about the guards!?"

"Hn. There is a three minute delay in the changing of the guards - I suggest you fix that." Kazumi's eyes turned piercing and Squalo just managed to swallow a gulp - Varia Quality assassin or not, it was never good when Kazumi got that look in his eyes.

"Before you go make my dango, please do tell me, Squalo, where is your left hand?"

Squalo did gulp this time, but still managed a strained smile. "So damned demanding." A pause. "And how many fucking times do I have to tell you! Don't poke me in the fucking forehead! Voi!"

 **50.**

Recently there had been some changes in the Varia. Lussuria hadn't really cared that much for Tyr - the man hadn't appreciated his darling~ fashion sense, nor had he allowed him to keep any of the scrumptious corpses he had wanted to collect. It had been such a pain~. Though with this new chain of command, he wasn't yet sure whether he was satisfied with it or not. At first it had appeared that a young, handsome - though much, much too loud - teenager named Squalo Superbi would become the new Head of the Varia - since he had been the one to kill Tyr. However, it wasn't so - Squalo Superbi passed the title over to the Nono's youngest son, Xanxus. While Lussuria would be the first to declare that Xanxus had a body to die for -one that would be much better with the stiff rigor of death - he also had an extremely not so darling temper.

He also was ridiculously picky about his food. The arguments that the lower ranked men and Squalo would get into with Xanxus would - and were- hilarious, if only they didn't result in someone having to come to him or his Sun squad to get healed up afterwards. It seriously cut into the free time he used to design clothes.

During the time Xanxus had taken charge -and really? had it only been a few months? - the hierarchy of the Varia had been turned on its head. All the main leaders of the Varia had been replaced except Lussuria, himself, and second in command, Ottabio - who was over the clouds of the Varia. Superbi had taken over the Rain Squad, a weirdo who was obsessed with the new Boss, named Leviathan took charge of the Lightning task force, a little, violent blond eight year old had waltzed in, killed the former head of the Varia's storm and took their place, and a strange baby - yes baby of all things, though it was a darling~ baby, had come in and asserted themselves over the Mist Squad.

This place was truly becoming a mad house.

The chaos was delicious to watch.

He got up and proceeded with his usual morning schedule, which consisted of copious amount of makeup and hair spray, he then straightened his sunglasses in front of his bathroom mirror and deemed himself acceptable to leave the room.

It was strange, as he made his way further down to the main floor he began to hear the faint sound of music. That was extremely odd, considering Xanxus had made it perfectly clear that he hated loud noises (that wasn't his own yelling) early in the mornings, by throwing one such noise maker out of a window his first week at Varia Headquarters - and it was still much too early by the Boss's standards.

Honestly, it was rare that anyone besides Lussuria and Squalo to be up at this time of the morning, unless there was a mission - which today there wasn't.

So it was very, very shocking to find that he was the last person downstairs - even Bel was standing at the entrance of an empty ball room with the rest of the the main figures of the Varia- even the darling~ Xanxus was in the group. And they were all peering into the ball room, which he now heard English lyrics sounding from. So he did what any reasonably curious person would do.

He stuck his head in an empty space in the doorway with the rest of them...

...to see Squalo dancing with some unknown delicious specimen of a man. Lussuria was nearly licking his lips.

Delicious.

 _(You can see the dance on Youtube by typing in "Julianne & Derek Hough Jive to 'Shake your tail feather'")_

* * *

 **51.**

Kazumi smiled softly at the deep breaths that Squalo was taking at the end of their jive. It was fascinating to him, Squalo could fight with someone from sundown to sunup but after an intense dance his breath turned harsh, it was fun to tease him about it.

"Shark scum, who is this trash?" said a growling voice from behind Kazumi.

He turned to see a rather tall teen, who gave off an aura of danger - or an aura of danger to anyone who wasn't a former nukenin and practically a ninja terrorist. To Kazumi it was rather amusing but seriously lacking in the intimidation department.

Kazumi tensed as an arm was thrown carelessly across his shoulder, he resisted his knee jerk reaction to grab the limb and twist it - bringing the owner of said limb to the ground before proceeding to attack - there was no need to let Squalo see him behave like that. Instead he turned to the voice as it was speaking.

"Yes~, Squalo darling~, who is this handsome young man?" asked the rather flamboyant man who had invaded Kazumi's personal space.

"Voi! Don't fucking touch him you _okama!"_ Yelled Squalo, forcibly removing the man's arm from Kazumi and pulling him close.

"Shi-shi-shi. That doesn't answer the question, shark." input a blond child whose hair covered a majority of his face. That caused Kazumi to frown, the boy couldn't that much older than Take-chan, and the child was obviously already entrenched in the mafia.

"Tch. Shut up brat." Squalo said scathingly to the child.

Kazumi's frown deepened and he threw a glare at Squalo, "Hn. What have I said about that word, Squalo."

The rest of the people in the room, who Kazumi figured he would be introduced to shortly looked at him curiously, as Squalo gave him a confused expression. "Voi! What are you-?" Kazumi's eyes narrowed and a look of realization crossed Squalo's face. "Fuck! I thought that only applied to Take-chan!"

"Hn."

"What is this trash talking about, shark scum?" tall dark haired teen rumbled, looking as if he were about to lose any patience he had.

"Kazumi here hates it when I call kids 'brat'." Squalo explained irritably.

"And for who I am, my name is Inoue Kazumi." Kazumi elaborated, bowing slightly. "Squalo's childhood friend."

After that revelation, Kazumi was introduced to the Varia.

"Shi-shi-shi, the shark's peasant friend dances well and has sense, the prince approves." said Belphagor.

"And he's so handsome~" crowed Lussuria.

Levi just huffed off in the corner.

"Trash." was Xanxus's comment before he left to order someone to get him breakfast.

Kazumi looked at his retreating figure for a moment before he turned to Squalo. "Hn. No distracting me with dancing anymore, you still owe me my dango."

"You are so damned demanding!" Squalo said exasperated, but regardless began to head to the kitchen with Kazumi following him.

Belphagor made a whipping sound at the same time Lussuria commented: "Oh~ someone is whipped~"

"Shut the fuck up!" Squalo screamed as he left the room with Kazumi dragging him by the back of his shirt, trying to stop himself from attacking the others.

 **52.**

Kazumi did get his dango, and as with all the dango Squalo made him, it was absolutely delicious and much better any dango that was store bought. He was munching on his snack in a small parlor off the kitchen, Squalo had gone off to make arrangements with Lussuria for some series of fights that Squalo had to complete to finalize his standing as sword Emperor. He was sitting comfortably on a couch, eating his dango, when Belphagor popped up beside him - Kazumi felt that the child had attempted to scare him, and failed miserably.

"Shi-shi-shi, what is the peasant eating? Did the shark make it? Is it eatable? This does not look like a food for a prince." The blond child declared with a huff.

Kazumi shrugged, not caring about the prince's decision about his dango. If the boy didn't like it, Kazumi considered that a victory: more dango for him.

Unfortunately, for Kazumi, his luck was not to last. The prince was not happy with Kazumi's indifference upon his pronunciation and stole a stick of dango from Kazumi's plate ( Kazumi of course could have stopped the thievery, however, he had yet to inform Squalo about his skills, and having someone other than himself telling Squalo would not go over well). So Kazumi was stuck, as the blond child bite delicately into his precious dango.

He could tell by the wide grin and subsequent 'shi-shi-shi' that his dango was in jeopardy.

He would make Squalo make him more.

"This peasant fare is most pleasant to the Prince's palate. Shi-shi-shi. The Prince wants more." And to Kazumi's horror Belphagor proceeded to clear Kazumi's plate of dango.

Immediately. Squalo would make more dango immediately.

 **53**.

Squalo was in the middle of cutting one of his opponents to shreds in the back garden of the Vaira Headquarters. Lussuria, that damned okama, was making random comments in the background that Squalo was ardently ignoring until one in particular caught his attention.

"Oh dear ~. What on earth is Bel doing on Kazu-kun's back ~?"

That comment broke Squalo's concentration for a moment, causing him to accidentally stab his sword through his opponent's skull, killing him instantly. But really, who gave a fuck about that?

Squalo's head snapped in the direction that Lussuria was looking and sure enough – Kazumi was making his way towards Squalo with a very unhappy expression. Which contrasted with the shit eating grin Bel had as the blond clung to Kazumi's back with a stick of dango in his hand.

Bel had Kazumi's dango. This was not good. No one fucked with Kazumi's dango.

"Squalo make me more dango." Kazumi demanded once he and the prince hanging off of Squalo's best friend's back were close enough.

"The prince demands more of this dango also. Do as commanded peasant shark. Shi-shi-shi", said Belphagor smiling widely with a dango skewer clenched between his teeth.

"Voi! The hell I -" Squalo began to protest venomously.

Kazumi cut off his protest with a sharp glare. "He ate my dango, Squalo. Please make more." They both knew his words were no request.

Belphagor snickered and Lussuria made a noise very distinctive to a whip.

Squalo seethed. He was going to cut them into fucking pieces -

"Hn."

-as soon as he made his friend some more of his favorite food.

 **54.**

Xanxus was, in a moment of rare productivity, in his office filing out paperwork that he had become accustomed to ignoring during his recent acquisition as head of Vongola's assassination squad. Then he sensed a presence that hadn't been there mere seconds ago. It was intense and dark in way he had never felt before in his life, even as he had been in the run down shanty-house that he had lived in squalor in with his wrath of a mother. It sent a shiver down down his spine. With a quick movement he grabbed the at hand wine glass and sent it flying in the direction of a shadowy figure just out of the corner of his eyes.

It was not quick enough.

In mere seconds, if even that long, he was out of his chair, held tightly by his collar, and slammed against the wall of his own office.

He looked into the eyes of his attacker and was met with a sinister red.

 _Fucking red eyes._

Belatedly he recognized his attacker as the scum-shark's friend that had been visiting for the past few days.

"What's this about trash?" Xanxus asked in his normal gruff tone.

"Hn. Squalo is my dearest friend."

"So. What the fuck does that have to do with anything, trash."

"He has decided that you are going to be his boss. For life. This is going to be your only warning. If anything should happen to him under your command," Inoue Kazumi's red eyes swirled dangerously and the whole room looked to Xanxus as if it had been set ablaze, "you will be begging for death's embrace far sooner than I will allow Hell to collect your pathetic soul."

All at once the room was returned to normal and he was gracelessly thrown to the floor. Inoue was gone.

Xanxus developed a health respect for Squalo's childhood friend.

 **55.**

As sad as Squalo was to see Kazumi get on his flight back to Japan, he was kind of relieved. Now he would be able to resume his series of matches against various swordsmen and their styles. He had been unable to do so since the first interruption with Kazumi demanding more dango.

"Voi! Tell Take-chan hello." Squalo said as he gave Kazumi a brief hug before his friend boarded the plane.

"Hn. I'll tell him his Squ-nii sends his greetings."

"The hell you will-!"

Kazumi laughed his soft laugh. "Come visit."

It wasn't a request.

"Voi! Like anyone could fucking stop me!"

Kazumi smiled, boarded the plane, and not long later was soaring away from Squalo and Italy.

 **56.**

A few years had passed and Squalo had made several visits to Japan, some for work and some for pure pleasure, during both circumstances Squalo would drop by and see his best friend and his family. Kazumi had, despite his degree, stayed in Namimori to help out with his step-father's sushi restaurant.

Squalo would always ask Kazumi, "How can you be content to fucking waste your life like this! You stay in this damned town, working in this damned restaurant! You're a fucking genius! You could do whatever the hell you want! Why are you wasting your goddamn life like this!"

To which Kazumi would always shake his head. "How can it be a waste when I'm with people precious to me? The only way I could be happier is if you were to move here. Then everyone I love would be in the same place."

That response would always result in Squalo turning an interesting shade of red before yelling his head off. Which, for Squalo, was just par for the course.

 **57.**

The Varia's coup against the Vongola was an utter catastrophe. Not only had they been betrayed by one of their own - that bastard Ottabio, but now their boss was frozen and contained in the darkest recesses of the Vongola Mansion.

Squalo thought it was the worst thing that had or was ever going to happen in his life.

But of course, Fate's a bitch, and as it is said disasters often arrive in pairs.

 **58.**

"Squ-nii." That was the first thing Take-chan said when Squalo answered the phone

The second was: "Kazu-nii's in the hospital."

And if those four words hadn't resulted in a worried panic coursing through his veins the third thing Take-chan said did.

"I found him this morning passed out in his bedroom. Lying in his own blood."

Those words triggered the long forgotten memory of _how exactly_ Squalo had met Kazumi all those years ago; coughing up his own blood in the woods before nonchalantly wiping it on the grass.

Those memories led to the horrifying realization that Kazumi had been seriously ill for _years_ and had known about it. _And hadn't fucking said anything about it!_

Squalo let out a streak of curses that would have Kazumi giving him his worst glare if he knew Squalo was using such language in Take-chan's hearing range. He honestly couldn't give a flying fuck.

"Squ-nii are you coming? Please? I'm scared." Nearly begging the nine year old on the phone confessed.

Within an hour Squalo was on a plane bound for Japan.

 **59.**

"Inoue-san, to the best of my knowledge, appears to be suffering from hemapytosis and dyspnea - shortness of breath, trouble breathing, or it could be that his body isn't able to circulate enough oxygen to reach his bloodstream. Hemapytosis, which is, ah, the coughing or spitting up of blood. Both of these symptoms together generally are caused by a more serious underlying condition. From what I gather by how Inoue-san was found, he must have been suffering from a serious coughing bought that caused the dyspnea to be more serious than normal for him, a shortage of oxygen caused him to pass out.

"Though it might be for the best that it happened. From what you all have informed me it appears that Inoue-san had had this condition for years and had refused to seek medical treatment. If this incident hadn't occurred you may not have found out anything was wrong until you found him dead in his bed one morning."

The doctor checked his patient's vitals once more before leaving the room, leaving Inoue-san's family with the terrifying words he had last spoke.

 **60.**

The moment Kazumi was able to open his eyes and sit up in the rather uncomfortable bed he was laying in was the moment that his little brother came flying at him, small arms wrapping around him in a death grip. Sitting in a chair not far away was Tsuyoshi-san who had a pained expression on his face. Squalo was leaning against the wall next to his bed with an unreadable expression on his face.

For a while no one spoke and the only noise in the room was the sound of machines that were monitoring his vitals and the occasional sob from Take-chan muffled against his hospital robe.

Finally, Squalo broke the silence. "If you weren't already in the hospital, Kazumi, I would fucking put you in one."

Even Kazumi being hospitalized due to an illness he had informed none of his loved ones about didn't change Squalo. Not even a little.

And God, did Kazumi love him even more for that.

 **Please tell me what you think.**


	2. Part 2

**AN: I wasn't too pleased with how this came out, but hopefully ya'll will like it. When I was writing this chapter I realized that this story may be longer than the original three parts I had planned, who knows. I hope ya'll enjoy. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors.**

 **Part Two:**

 **61.**

The doctors in Namimori Hospital announced, after several weeks of testing, that there was nothing to be done about the damage on Kazumi's lungs and heart. He would live longer if he was careful and refrained from any and all stressful or strenuous activities. His time on this earth would be prolonged with permanent medical supervision, staying in the hospital in the long-term care ward was recommended. To be honest he had not expected anything else. Unfortunately, this news caused his little brother to sob, Squalo cursed, and nearly skewered the poor man who had delivered the news, and then stormed from the room. Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was silent, but Kazumi could see the tears the older man refused to shed.

It hurt him to see his loved ones so upset. But there was nothing he could really do to alleviate the pain and suffering. His health was what it was and there was no changing that. He had long ago accepted the inevitable.

His body would eventually fail and he would die. The same old dance that he had learned in his former life. Only this time he wouldn't drive his beloved younger brother to kill him; this time his brother would cling to him as Kazumi breathed his last breath…not cause it.

A small smile appeared at the rather (what it would be to most anyone else) dark thought. It made him happy that he had people who would care about his death this time around.

 **62.**

Katarina Superbi had just finished up her rounds - checking in on her patients, actively reassessing their treatments as necessary, and discharging those who had recovered enough to leave - and returned to the nurses desk to inform them of any changes with the patients. Almost immediately as she approached the long counter behind which was the nurses' work station, a rather annoyed looking nurse approached her holding a portable phone.

Extremely odd. When a patient needed her, she was paged and her husband knew better than to call her at work with useless chatter - not that her husband ever dissolved into useless chatter, he was a man of few words.

The nurse huffed as she handed Katarina the phone. "Inform your son that we nurses have better things to do than play secretary, Dr. Superbi. He loudly demanded to speak with you immediately, you should try to correct those poor manners." Said the woman with a sneer before thrusting the phone into Katarina's waiting hand and walking away.

 _Bitch,_ Katarina thought. She would have done more than think it, had she not been chastised already this month for making a nurse quit. Apparently it was difficult to keep replacing the nurses she drove away, or at least that's what her supervisor had said the last time it he had had to talk to her about it. Apparently she would have already been fired for her behavior to her colleagues if she wasn't as good as she was at her job. In her opinion _her colleagues_ should toughen the fuck up - they worked for the goddamn mafia after all they should be able to handle some screaming and cussing - and if they couldn't - good riddance.

"Hello, Squalo." Katarina answered the phone. "It's rare for you to call me, especially-"

" _Madre_..." Squalo's voice that interrupted her was so strange to her ears that she pulled the phone away from her to stare at the device. That soft, ragged tone sounded nothing like her son. What the hell had happened?

She asked just that. "What the fucking hell is wrong, Squalo?"

" _It's Kazumi...Madre. He's really fucking sick...really fucking sick_."

She should have figured. Nothing but Kazumi could affect her son so much.

 **63.**

"Shamal, remember that huge favor you owe me?"

" _Ah! Of course, Katarina! I could never forget anything about such a lovely lady as yourself!_ "

"Good. I'm cashing it in now. Get your ass to the Namimori Hospital. Tell me the name of the closest airport to you and your ticket to Japan will be waiting for you at the help desk within the hour. "

" _Huh? Katarina-?"_

"Be on that plane, Shamal. Nice talking to you."

And the phone was hung up with a distinct click.

* * *

" _Katarina! You know I don't treat men. Why did you send me all this way? I'm not touching this guy, even for you sensei."_

 _"_ Yes, you fucking will."

" _I will not! I don't treat males -"_

"You will treat this one. Because if he dies and I find out there was anything you could have done to help him, I swear to fucking god, Shamal - I. Will. Kill. You... Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

" _Dammit!...Fine. I'll_ try, _Katarina_."

"Good. If you try and he dies I'll only castrate you."

" _Katarina-?!"_

The phone sounded it's dial tone.

* * *

"Shamal -?"

 _"This kid has_ no Dying Will Flames _, Katarina -sensei. None. Natta. Zip."_

She gasped, utterly shocked. "That means..."

" _...He has no will to live. This kid has known he's been dying for years, and now he is so resigned to the fact that he doesn't have the want to, to fight for his life."_

A crash sounded from Katarina's side of the phone. "Dammit! Dammit to hell!"

" _If I could somehow make him produce flames then this would be a lot simpler. If he has sun, mist, or cloud flames then I would be able to make it were his flames would be constantly healing his heart and lungs. He'd still have the symptoms of the illness and probably remain weaker from it, but his flames would prevent him from dying from the illness at least - no guarantees if he chokes to death on his own blood, though. But as things are now..."_ Katarina heard Shamal huff on the other side of the line. " _You know as well as I do, Sensei, its hard to heal a patient who has no will to fight to be cured. I've never come across a case like this before - its so singular it might make up for me having to deal with a man."_

"Isn't that just fucking peachy, Shamal." Katarina replied bitterly. "Tell my son the situation. He'll inform the family. You'll need to stick around for a while."

" _Why? You think they'll manage to get the kid to produce flames? Not everyone can activate their flames, you know this, Sensei."_

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 _"She hung up on me..."_

 **64.**

Shamal stared at Katarina-sensei's son. The kid looked nothing like her. He vaguely wondered where the shoulder length white hair had come from. Maybe Katarina-sensei's husband? Anyway, he recognized Superbi Squalo from his reputation alone. A fourteen year old kid had defeated the leader of the strongest assassination group in the world, then he hadn't even taken up the leadership position for himself, but had given it away to Nono Vongola's youngest son. Then only a year or so later the reformed Varia had attacked the Vongola losing their leader as a result of the attack, leaving Squalo Superbi in charge of the Varia, the deadliest assassination group in the world.

The sixteen year old current leader of the deadliest assassination squad in the world who was also recognized as the Sword Emperor, and had an infamous reputation for being terribly temperamental and not at all hesitant to strike anyone down.

A person who was looking terribly frustrated and aggravated at the moment.

A person who Shamal was going to have to explain to that his best friend (according to the lovely Katarina-sensei) had no Dying Will Flames - at all - and the ramifications of what exactly that meant. Especially if they couldn't get the kid in question to produce flames or become flame active.

First examining a male and now this? Why did he get stuck doing this shit?

 **65.**

"VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

The windows, walls, and floors of Namimori Hospital shook and rattled and quivered with the force of the yell. It startled the staff and caused some of the family members of patients to worry. The sound was heard from outside the building and caused an eleven year old Hibari Kyoya to begin heading towards the hospital to "bite the person disrupting the peace of Namimori to death."

All Shamal could think, once he could once more hear himself think was: _Well, that went better than I expected._ Only one hallway had been destroyed during Squalo's short rampage, and it could have been so much worse.

 **66.**

Kazumi watched bemusedly, as Squalo stormed into his hospital room, grabbed Take-chan with one arm by his waist, and stomped back out of the room, without so much as acknowledging Kazumi once.

How strange. Especially with that scream that Kazumi had heard just moments before.

In fact, Squalo hadn't spoken to him much since it had been revealed that Kazumi was sick. Not that he could blame Squalo. He and Squalo had been so close for so many years, Squalo couldn't be taking the news well at all.

Kazumi sighed. If only there was something he could do to make this easier on everyone he cared about.

 **67.**

Yamamoto sighed as his son was drug from the room by Squalo. While he was curious as to what that was all about, he just couldn't gather the energy to get up and check it out. And it wasn't like Squalo would dare hurt Takeshi - Kazumi had long ago trained Squalo to be careful with and around him.

Ah...Kazumi. He couldn't believe that Kazumi had hidden his illness from him - and everyone else - for so long. Even though Kazumi wasn't his biological son, Yamamoto had come to love the boy as such, and now he felt like a failure as a father. How would he ever be able to face Tomoko when he died?

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep the tears threatening to fall at bay.

Finally once he had regained his nearly slipping composure, Yamamoto asked the question he had been wondering for the past six weeks.

"Why, Kazumi. Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell someone? Squalo, Takeshi, or even, me would have been fine! We would have gotten you help! Your brother wouldn't have had to find you passed out in your own blood!"

Kazumi was silently staring at his sheets.

"How long have you known?"

"Since I was four." Kazumi replied resigned.

Oh...God! He had been sick even when Tomoko had been alive - and no one, no one! - had even suspected a thing was wrong. Not even Squalo who Kazumi had known since he was four and had been best friends with ever since. Hell! Yamamoto couldn't even remember how many times Kazumi had stayed with Squalo and his family during weekends and while Tomoko was off on week- long hits and Squalo's mother was one of the most renown neutral mafia doctors in the world. And even Katarina-san hadn't suspected anything amiss!

Yamamoto felt sick to his stomach. What did it say about all of them, that they were the closest people to Kazumi and none of them were aware that he was ill? Either Kazumi was excellent at hiding his illness or that all of them were pathetic examples of family and friends.

 _I wonder how much else about Kazumi that we aren't aware of,_ Yamamoto wondered vaguely.

He would probably be scared to know the extent of the answer to that.

 **68.**

It was silent in his hospital room after Kazumi answered Yamamoto-san's question. It hurt Kazumi to realize how much him having not disclosed his illness sooner hurt those he considered family. However, he had hidden it, and overall he didn't regret it. Maybe it was selfish of him but if he could change it he wouldn't. If he had said anything it would have caused his loved ones years of worry. They would have been so concerned over his health that the precious moments they shared together would have been tainted by it. Also, they would have forced him to seek medical attention - which would have results in him being virtually tied down to hospitals, medicine (that wouldn't work), and doctors for a majority of his life. It was an idea that he couldn't fathom having gone through (he would have taken a note from Hatake Kakashi's book and would have tried to escape from all of the medical staff).

Though if he could change one thing about the entire situation it would be that his younger brother wouldn't have been the one to find him unconscious.

He truly hoped he hadn't traumatized a second younger brother.

Squalo stuck his head into the room and curiously motioned for Yamamoto-san to come out into the hallway. Kazumi watched as the older man walked out with a confused expression. Once Yamamoto-san was out into the hallway, Squalo gently pushed a teary eyed Take-chan into the room, then Squalo slammed the door leaving the brothers alone in the room together.

Take-chan, to Kazumi's horror, began to wail - his brother had sobbed before when he found out Kazumi was sick, but this was on a whole different level, it was awful. Take-chan jumped onto the hospital bed and into Kazumi's waiting arms.

"What's the matter, Take-chan?" Besides the obvious, Kazumi asked soothingly, trying to calm his brother down. He really wanted to see Take-chan's smiling face not this.

"S-Squ-nii -Squ-nii," Take-chan sniffled, "said that there is a way to cure you, Kazu-nii -"

"Really?" Kazumi questioned skeptically. Squalo had better not be getting his brother's hopes up or the two of them would be having words.

"Y-yeah, but Squ-nii said that it wouldn't work on you." His brother wailed.

Oh, there would be words.

His brother continued in a heart-breaking sad voice, "I-it won't work on you, K-kazu-nii, 'cuz Squ-nii says you want to die!"

What...?

"He says that you don't want to fight to stay with us, so the cure won't work on you. Is that true, Kazu-nii? Do you not want to be with us anymore!? Am I annoying? Is that why you don't want to stay with me, and Tou-san, and Squ-nii? Do you want to leave us? Is that why you didn't tell us you were sick?" Take-chan questioned desperately, little hands clinging tightly to the front of Kazumi's hospital gown.

Kazumi himself was in a bit of a daze from his brother's words. Had someone hit Squalo on the head recently - hard enough to rattle his brains? Was Squalo high? What on earth could have caused Squalo to fill Take-chan's head with such nonsense. He didn't choose to be ill and if he had the choice he would prefer not to be. He wanted to spend the rest of this second life with his loved ones, he would never leave if he had the choice. But he didn't. And he was resigned.

"I didn't tell you I was sick, Take-chan, because I didn't want anyone to worry about me." He hugged his brother close. "And how could you ever think that I would willingly leave you? I love you so much, Take-chan." Kazumi said.

"And Tou-san and Squ-nii?" Take-chan asked with a sniffling hiccup.

"And Yamamoto-san and your Squ-nii." Kazumi said, kissing Take-chan on the forehead with affection.

"Then why did Squ-nii say you could only have the cure if you had the will to live?" Take-chan asked.

Kazumi thought he might have an idea. "Did Squalo emphasis the word 'will' a lot, Take-chan?"

"Yep!" Take-chan said.

Well, then. Maybe he didn't have Dying Will Flames _because_ he was so resigned to his own death.

Kazumi concentrated. _I don't want to die! I don't want to die!_ He chanted internally, all the while feeling very stupid. Why couldn't flames just come to him like chakra? He hugged Take-chan even tighter as a purple flame erupted from his right hand.

Hn. So he was capable of Dying Will Flames after all. That would have been nice to know earlier.

Suddenly this entire debacle became quite anticlimactic.

 **69.**

 **Outside in the hallway with Squalo and Yamamoto-san.**

Squalo explained the situation to the older Yamamoto.

The older man sighed, partly in relief and partly in exasperation. "So, we can practically, but not quite, cure Kazumi as long as he has sun, mist, or cloud flames? And given his personality it's practically a given that he has one of those three, right?"

"Voi!" Squalo said as he nodded in agreement.

"So you just sent my son in there to his brother's room to guilt him into not being quite as resigned to his fate as he is, so that he would have the will power to develop and activate his flames?"

"Voi! Basically."

Yamamoto rubbed his face with a hand. "I should be mad at you for using my son like that, but if it works, then I really can't bring myself to care."

"Voi! Of course it'll work, fucking old man! Kazumi'd do anything for that bra- Take-chan. You'll see."

At the deliberate change in words, Yamamoto couldn't help but be a bit amazed at how well Kazumi had practically trained Squalo.

He really did hope Squalo's plan worked.

 **70.**

Hibari made his way through the hospital as he tracked down the person who had disturbed the peace in Namimori. He eventually came across the hallway the culprit must have been in when creating that obnoxious sound. He knew it must be the scene of the crime due to the damage on the walls that the nursing staff had already begun to clean up. As he stalked down the damaged corridor, tonfas in his hands he heard the tell-tale "VOI!" coming from inside one of the rooms.

Silently, as a predator stalking its prey, Hibari slipped into the room, completely acknowledged by the three people in the room (well okay, one of the three was asleep, but Hibari was certain that even if the boy herbivore was awake he would still enter the room without the inhabitants noticing - he was a carnivore after all). He took a moment to evaluate the situation and listen into the conversation between the two awake herbivores, so that he could identify which herbivore the obnoxious sound had come from. It took him a moment to realize that one herbivore was chastising the other, and that the chastising herbivore wasn't a herbivore -

"Squalo." The man with the long dark hair addressed the other with a deadly tone, and a dark aura ominously hanging behind him. Which was amusing considering that the young herbivore sleeping in his lap was completely oblivious to the sinister air.

"Voi! Kazumi - you have no right to be mad after what you hid from me, you bastard! You are so fucking sick, and have been for years! And you didn't fucking think to tell me! Damn it, Kazumi." The white haired herbivore - or was he a carnivore? - yelled at the other.

"Squalo. You used my brother against me." Hibari swore that the dark haired man's eyes flashed a bloody shade of red. "You used Take-chan against me. You told him I wanted to die."

"V-VOI! I'm not fucking apologizing!" The white haired male shouted, though it appeared to Hibari that he looked slightly nervous - as well he should the dark haired carnivore was looking distinctly terrifying at the moment. Hibari was slightly in awe, while he wasn't sure if this carnivore could fight, but the man was certainly displaying the quintessential elements of a fantastic carnivore. "It was a sure fire way to get you to do something! It was for your own damned good!"

"That may be the case, Squalo, but remember - the road to Hell was paved with the very best of intentions. So, always make sure to tread carefully when doing something for someone's 'own good'." The dark haired man intoned darkly.

The dark haired carnivore's eyes narrowed and the atmosphere in the room got even darker - a thing that Hibari hadn't even thought possible (maybe the white haired maybe herbivore-carnivore wouldn't even last long enough against the dark haired carnivore for Hibari to bite him to death). Then the dark haired carnivore motioned for the other to come closer - and in Hibari's opinion only an idiot or someone with a death wish would have actually obeyed - and the white haired man moved closer - the fool.

The carnivore reached out and tapped the white haired fool on the forehead. There was a pause in both their movements. And the air cleared as the carnivore smiled softly at the white haired man, who -

"VOI!" that obnoxious sound -maybe the carnivore would eventually tire of the sound and bite the white haired noise machine to death for Hibari. "How many fucking times do I have to tell you, Kazumi?! Don't fucking poke me in the forehead! Dammit!"

"Hn. Go get me some dango before you wake up Take-chan."

"You are so damned demanding!" The white haired fool said, in a volume that was almost normal.

"Hn. Get dango, Squalo." The carnivore demanded, a serious look in his black eyes.

The white haired fool -who Hibari still hadn't managed to determine his carnivore/herbivore status - rushed from the room.

Hibari looked at the dark haired carnivore in awe. He had just found what he wanted to grow up to be - a carnivore of the caliber of this man (who was probably more like sixteen and not actually a 'man', but whatever).

"Now," the carnivore spoke, petting the slumbering herbivore's black hair. "How about you come out and keep me company for a while?" The carnivore asked, those deadly black eyes of his soft and completely different than they had been earlier as they looked directly at where Hibari had hidden behind the large chair near the window. Hibari shivered, as he realized the carnivore had probably been aware of his presence since Hibari had entered the room -amazing.

Hibari stepped out into clear view of his new role model.

"Hello, dark haired carnivore. I am Hibari Kyoya." Hibari bowed, showing politeness while in the awe-inspiring carnivore's territory. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance."

The dark haired carnivore looked amused at the way Hibari addressed him, and also bowed as he introduced himself to Hibari. "Hn. It is a pleasure to meet you Hibari-kun. My name is Inoue Kazumi, and this one sleeping here is my younger brother, Yamamoto Takeshi. You two are probably around the same age, I suspect. " Inoue-sama looked down at his younger brother adoringly ( Hibari carefully noted he difference in sire-names between the two. He also made note to be polite to the younger brother of Inoue-sama, it would not do to offend the older brother by way of the younger).

"I am eleven, Inoue-sama." Hibari supplied to Inoue-sama who looked slightly surprised at the way Hibari chose to address him. Of course Hibari would show the utmost respect to a carnivore of such esteem as Inoue-sama.

"Ah. Two years older than Take-chan."

"Hn."

"Hn. May I ask you Hibari-kun, why exactly are you in this room."

Ah, of course Inoue-sama would want to know why such a young carnivore such as himself would be encroaching in his territory. So, he told Inoue-sama of his mission to bite the one who had disturbed the peace of Namimori to death for their transgression, and how he had found the one in Inoue-sama's presence and came to the conclusion that the transgressor had been suitably punished by Inoue-sama.

His report prompted a small laugh from Inoue-sama.

"So, you are the protector of Namimori's peace? That's quite a noble ambition." Inoue-sama commented, causing Hibari to preen with pride. "Do you know how to play I-go?"

Hibari shook his head in the negative.

"Hn. Any interest in learning? Take-chan can't sit still long enough for me to teach him, neither can Squalo." Inoue-sama questioned, looking at Hibari curiously and slightly hopefully.

"I will gladly learn if you are willing to teach me, Inoue- sama." Hibari replied.

"Hn." Inoue-sama nodded his head.

Hibari went to find a nurse to acquire one of the plastic, magnetic goban that they kept in hospitals for patients.

By the time the white haired fool -who Hibari learned was named Squalo Superbi, he was an Italian swordsman, and he and Inoue-sama were childhood friends - had returned with Inoue-sama's dango, Hibari had a rather good grasp on the game of go - which Inoue-sama had explained was an ancient game that many successful war generals had been quit proficient at.

He was introduced to Squalo Superbi, who seemed curious as to where he had come from, but Superbi didn't ask any questions probably because Inoue-san looked as if he were about to fall asleep, so Hibari excused himself quickly after Inoue-san finished his dango. However, he did not leave before Inoue-sama gave him his phone number and an invitation to meet up at a local tea cafe to play go again sometime.

Despite not accomplishing what he had initially set out to do, Hibari felt that his day had been quite productive.

 **71.**

Squalo's plan did work.

Shamal began helping Kazumi with flame therapy the very next day. The therapy was to teach Kazumi how to make the propagation ability of his cloud flames to be constantly reinforcing and strengthening his heart and lungs with no conscious effort or concentration required on Kazumi's part.

Luckily for Shamal and Kazumi - who didn't get along that well on account of Kazumi's disapproval of Shamal's constant flirting with the nurses and Shamal being unhappy about having to treat a man - Kazumi learned the technique extremely fast, and Shamal was out of Japan within a month of receiving the call to go to Japan from Katarina-Sensei.

Despite the great help the man had been -in between the never ending stream of complaints the man had spew and constant flirting with the nurses - Kazumi was quite happy to see him go. Mostly because with Shamal's departure came Kazumi's release from the hospital - which came extremely surprising to the doctors who had formerly concluded that he would need to be permanently institutionalized for his illness. His condition's rapid improvement from completely debilitating and potentially deadly to just the symptoms of a deadly illness astonished all of Namimori's doctors - who concluded that it was nothing short of a medical miracle, though they did recommend that he have a physical check up ever few months to make sure his illness didn't progress once again and to see if the symptoms stater within manageable limits.

Kazumi agreed easily and soon was allowed home.

 **72.**

The phone clicked.

" _Katarina-sensei. Your kid'll live." Click._

"That jackass hung up on me!"

 **73.**

Despite the all clear from the doctors, with just a recommendation that he be careful while doing any strenuous activities, Take-chan, Yamamoto-san, and Squalo (who had informed them that he was staying in Japan for a month before returning to Italy (he also implied that he was going to drag Kazumi back with him for a short while when he left)) treated him like he was made of glass once he had returned home from the hospital.

He was well aware he had given them quite the scare, so he tolerated the delicacy they treated him with for the first few days, but after that it became plain irritating.

Whereas he had been apprenticing under Yamamoto-san since his graduation from college at fourteen (so, for the past two years), and he was quite the proficient chef (as long as he didn't have to make dango) almost ready to test for his license to become a certified sashimi chef and to work with fugu (blow fish/puffer fish which was poisonous if prepared incorrectly - which would be an efficient way to commit an assassination now that he thought of it...). After his return from the hospital, Yamamoto-san fussed over him and drove him from the kitchen if Kazumi even looked like he was thinking about offering his assistance. Instead, Take-chan skipped out on his baseball practice and took over assisting Yamamoto-san at the restaurant and the chores that Kazumi normally did.

Apparently, Take-chan and Yamamoto-san had delegated the responsibility of distracting Kazumi to Squalo, which would have worked better if Squalo didn't fuss over Kazumi as much if not more than Take-chan and Yamamoto-san combined.

From Squalo it was:

"VOI! Kazumi, we need to turn back, you've walked long enough! Turn your ass around before I drag you back!"

"VOI! Kazumi, you need to fucking rest before I tie you to your fucking bed!"

"VOI! Kazumi, why the hell did you climb that fucking tree! Get your ass down here before you have a coughing fit and fall down on your fucking face!"

"VOI! Kazumi, don't fucking run away from me! You shouldn't be running in the first damn place! You'll fucking fall over from the lack of fucking oxygen to your fucking head!"

"VOI! Stop Kazumi! Just fucking take it easy!"

And finally the last straw was:

"Hn." Kazumi and Squalo had been taking a 'short walk', and Kazumi had stopped by a street pole because he had noticed a flyer for a talent competition that was looking for participants and was going to occur soon. "How about we enter, Squalo? It's been awhile since we've danced together." Kazumi had truly missed it.

"VOI! Fucking hell no, Kazumi! You heard what the doctors said about strenuous activities!"

While it was sweet that they cared, it was as Squalo would say, 'Getting so fucking old, and he was so fucking over it.'

 **74.**

Kazumi gathered his brother, Yamamoto-san, and Squalo together in the living room the night that Squalo had flatly said no to participating in the talent competition. He smiled at each of them in a sickeningly sweet way and informed them that under no circumstances were they to continue acting as they had been for the past week. He appreciated their concern, but he was fine. He agreed that him coughing up blood now and then was a legitimate concern and that during those fits he may pass out from oxygen failing to be moved to the appropriate areas in his body. Okay, alright, but if someone was standing right next to him or in the room next door then it shouldn't be terribly concerning if he was to - he didn't know -actually do something.

Take-chan, Yamamoto-san, and Squalo were all very amendable to the very valid points he had posed, and agreed to stop treating him like he was fragile. Squalo even said that they would participate in "That damned talent show you saw earlier".

It made him quite happy.

So, happy that Kazumi finally put down the knives that he had been sharpening and throwing into the wall above their heads since the conversation had begun.

* * *

Afterward, as Kazumi was helping Yamamoto-san prepare for he dinner rush at TakeSushi - Take-chan and Squalo were watching from where they were sitting at the bar - Squalo asked, "Voi! Kazumi, when did you get so good at handling knives?"

Kazumi smiled, twirling a knife with ease. "You don't apprentice with a chef for years without picking up something other than cooking, Squalo."

"Voi! Impressive."

Take-chan grinned and piped in, "Kazu-nii is the best!"

Kazumi just smiled as he chopped the head off a salmon.

 **75.**

As the month after Kazumi was discharged from the hospital progressed (and after he had managed to get Take-chan, Yamamoto-san, and Squalo to...see things his way), Kazumi met up with Hibari-kun several times to play go at a local cafe (his new young friend was quickly showing a proficiency for strategy, which was the purpose of go), and they would eat cake, drink green tea, and chat amiably.

Every morning Squalo and Kazumi (and occasionally Take-chan on the days he didn't have morning baseball practice) would go to Yamamoto-san's dojo to practice for the talent competition they had entered. Then they would break so that Kazumi could assist in the restaurant for lunch. And after lunch, Kazumi and Squalo would go for a walk around town, once or twice taking Take-chan to the local high school to watch a baseball game. Then they would all return to TakeSushi for their own dinner and afterwords Kazumi once more would help out in the kitchen. Kazumi and Squalo would then retreat back to the dojo for a short run through of their dance before turning in for the night.

* * *

Three days before the talent competition Kazumi meet with Hibari-kun at their usual cafe.

"Hn. Hibari-kun." Kazumi greeted as the boy in question sat down across from him.

"Hn. Inoue-sama." Hibari-kun greeted.

They started on their tea, cake, and game. They continued in this mostly silent manor until Kazumi questioned.

"Hibari-kun, would you be interested in accompanying Take-chan, Squalo, and I to a baseball game?" Kazumi received a questioning look, so he elaborated further, "10:00 AM, this Saturday, and if you like, you could attend a talent competition Squalo and I will be participating in that evening. You'd be watching with Yamamoto-san and Take-chan."

"I would be honored, Inoue-sama."

And that was the extent of their conversation, besides idle commentary about moves placed in the game, and what moves would have been better at certain times.

 **76.**

Yamamoto Takeshi was not happy. Not in the least. No matter how big the smile was on his face. In fact if he were to quote Squ-nii (in words that Squ-nii had specifically warned him not to let Kazu-nii know he had heard Squ-nii use), he would admit that he was kinda pissed.

Oh, the day had started off amazingly! First off Kazumi and Squ-nii had gotten him up and informed him that they were going to go see the Namimori high school baseball team play their biggest rivals. Which was going to be awesome! Baseball was the greatest sport in the world!

Then everything seemed to strike out from there.

The boy who Kazu-nii had been hanging out with lately, joined them to go watch the baseball game. A person who took time Kazu-nii could be spending with Takeshi away. Which he hadn't really minded...until now.

Takeshi chattered mindlessly about the game they were about to go see, and as per the norm, it was mostly him and Squ-nii contributing ninety- five percent of the conversation.

Still.

This dark, heavy, ugly feeling of dissatisfaction arose in the pit of his stomach every time he glanced in Hibari-san's direction. He wasn't happy that he felt like that to the boy who had done no wrong.

But.

He was very unhappy about the (by his perception) intruder into his day with his Kazu-nii and his Squ-nii.

But, as always, he continued to smile.

Because he knew his brother loved to see him smile.

* * *

And he continued to smile, as he seethed, as he learned Hibari-san was going with them to watch Kazu-nii and Squ-nii dance at the talent competition.

* * *

It was always amazing to watch his brother and Squ-nii dance together. They moved as if blessed by a goddess of grace and brought to the earth to show its people the true meaning of beauty. Watching them was like watching a work of art in motion. It was captivating and nearly impossible to look away. Not that Takeshi wanted to.

He could watch his brother dance forever. It was better than watching a baseball game.

Somehow a gasp managed to force Takeshi's attention to his right.

Interesting...Hibari-san's expression...was, well, almost totally expressionless save for the stary, awestruck glimmer in his eyes as he watched the two teenagers on stage.

The dark feeling that had persisted to bite at him all day just seem to vanish. It was hard to stay mad at someone that looked as if he worshiped the ground his older brother walked on (Takeshi felt that everyone should look at his brother that way - Kazu-nii was the best person in the world (and Squ-nii was pretty awesome, too)). Plus he knew he would always be his brother's only brother, so it was a given that he would always be in his brother's life -there was no logical reason to be jealous of Hibari-san's new friendship/idol worship of Kazu-nii.

"Amazing right, Hibari-san?" Takeshi said, honestly more amiably at this moment than he had faked all day.

Hibari-san nodded wordlessly, unable to take his eyes away from the stage.

Takeshi smiled and turned back to watch his brother and Squ-nii. He was so glad his brother could still dance, it would be a loss to the world if he wasn't able to anymore.

(Takeshi was still desperately grateful that the world hadn't lost Kazu-nii, he didn't know if he could have withstood losing his brother - he shuddered to think.)

(Takeshi also made a mental note, as he returned his attention to his brother and Squ-nii, to remind Tou-san to buy a recording of the talent show so that they could add it to the collection of Kazu-nii's performances that his Okaa-san had started when Kazu-nii had begun to dance. Oh, and they had to buy a second copy for Katarina-obaa-san, she would want one for her collection, too.)

 **77.**

Kazumi smiled softly as he and Squalo took a bow to the avid applause that rattled the auditorium they had preformed for. That smile disappeared as soon as he was out of sight of the audience. He rushed to the nearest bathroom (as fast as he could without drawing undue attention on himself) with Squalo (who was strangely silent) hot on his heels.

Twenty minutes later he was back on stage accepting the first place trophy with Squalo, his hands without the slightest trace of blood on them to show that he had just recently been in the bathroom hacking up blood like he was going to die ( _Not anymore, at least,_ he forced himself to remember).

Before they reconvened with the others Kazumi said to Squalo, softly, "I am fine."

Squalo snorted loudly, scaring one of the people passing by. "Like hell you are."

"Hn." Kazumi rolled his eyes.

"Voi! Of course I'm fucking overacting! I've got twelve damned years of worrying over your stupid, stubborn, sickly ass to catch up on! You'd better learn to fucking deal!"

Ah, Squalo...

Kazumi chuckled and tapped Squalo lightly on his forehead (which was now nearly covered by his bangs, Squalo's hair was getting so long...). The normal pause - and something not quite so normal happened. Squalo's cheeks tinged a slight shade of pink, and Kazumi's best friend jerked his head away from him. Not normal Squalo behavior.

"V-VOI! K-Kazumi, how many fucking times do I have to tell you!? Don't do that! For a fucking genius you are so damned slow!" Squalo yelled, face still pink.

Ah. Well, then.

Kazumi smirked. This was going to be interesting, especially with his upcoming trip to Italy with Squalo.

Very interesting indeed.

 **78.**

"Good job you two." Yamamoto-san said clapping both Kazumi and Squalo on the back as they met back up at the entrance of the Namimori High School auditorium, where the community talent competition had taken place.

"Yeah! You guys were the best!" Take-chan exclaimed, tackling both of them in a hug around the two video cases in his hands and the trophy that Squalo and Kazumi were holding between them.

"Hn. As expected of one such as Inoue-sama. A true carnivore among mere herbivores. Dominance was only to be expected." Hibari praised in his own way.

That gained the boy some odd looks from those gather around, except for Kazumi who understood the compliment for what it was and chuckled.

"Anyway," Take-chan smiled, glancing between Kazumi and Hibari. "Let's all go home and have fatty tuna to celebrate!"

So, that's what they did.

* * *

That night Takeshi specifically requested that Kazu-nii personally sing the lullaby that Takeshi still listened to every night before bed ( though it was generally the recording). To Takeshi the line ' _show the world the warmth of your smile'_ had always struck a certain cord with Takeshi. He smiled as he began to drift knowing that he was the only one his brother ever sang for.

* * *

The very next day Kazumi and Squalo boarded a plane bound for Italy.

 **79.**

The cigarette precariously hanging from Shamal's stunned lips was almost completely ash. He stared at the computer screen in front of him in a daze. This couldn't be right...but no it had to be! He'd run the test ten times! There was no way the program had gotten the same results so consistently, even if it did have a glitch - which it didn't!

So, he had no other option but to conclude that the words in front of him were accurate - one hundred percent accurate.

Damn! Damn his curiosity! And damn Katarina-sensei for forcing him into treating a male patient - he knew nothing good could ever come of it!

But seriously, why had he been so curious about the occurrence of someone who had no perceivable trace of flames - no flames at all! - suddenly, not only producing flames but producing active flames!

His curiosity had driven him to test the blood against everyone in his personal database to see if anyone else had any similar DNA to the kid to compare if someone else had an absence of flames as well. He hadn't expected to come up with much from his search, but he certainly hadn't expected what he had found.

His eyes slowly found the telephone that was innocently sitting on his desk. With one phone call he would likely get involved in something he had no desire to be attached to ... Should he do it? Should he call?

He pulled his hand violently away from the phone at the last moment.

The hell he was going to start that mess! First having to treat a male and now this! He was not going to deliberately get involved in another shitty situation again for a while (he had just managed to get Hayato to go away!).

He printed off all ten DNA reports and locked them away in his personal safe before deleting all traces of the tests, and more importantly, the results.

He was going to forget he ever saw that.

Plus he didn't really see a resemblance between the two of them at all, so hopefully no one else would ever notice either.

 **80.**

Kazumi awarded Squalo with his most unimpressed expression. He had been invited (told by Squalo that "You are coming the fuck with me back to Italy, Kazumi! No arguments!") only for Squalo to be told by Lussuria that they had just received a mission that they needed Squalo for, and it was directly from the Vongola - so with the strain that was between the Varia and the Vongola due to the recent assault by the Varia, there was no way that they were able to turn the request down.

So, basically, Squalo had drug Kazumi to Italy only for Squalo himself having to leave the very next day after arrival for a job that was estimated to last nearly the entire month Kazumi had planed to stay.

Kazumi wasn't exactly thrilled.

"Hn." Said Kazumi, his eyes narrowed at Squalo in disapproval.

Squalo flinched, but recovered with admirable speed. "VOI! I know, I know, Kazumi! But I didn't fucking know that the Vongola scum was going to send a mission like this! Hell!"

Kazumi decided to take pity on his friend.

"Hn. Okay, but you'll have to make me a lot of dango tonight to make up for it." Kazumi conceded to forgive.

A pause."VOI! You and your damned dango! So demanding! "

Kazumi did get his dango, though. And it once more concluded that Squalo made the best dango. It was absolutely delicious.

Later that night, as Kazumi and Squalo were laying together on Squalo's oversized bed, Kazumi pressed his lips lightly to Squalo's forehead.

It was entertaining to watch Squalo turn a deep shade of red, violently turn away from Kazumi, and stutter out the customary complaint.

"V - VOI! How many damn times do I have to fucking tell you, Kazumi! Don't fuck with my forehead!"

A loud groan erupted from Squalo as Kazumi merely laughed lightly.

 **81.**

"Kyaa~ So cute~!" Lussuria exclaimed clasping his hands together as his entire frame seemed to absolutely squirm with excitement.

"Shi-shi-shi." Belphegor laughed with a grin while he spun in the chair he was perched in that was in front of the monitor. A monitor that was displaying Squalo Superbi's bedroom and all its current inhabitants. "The prince approves." The he bit into stick of dango he had stolen from the batch Squalo had made earlier.

"Mou," Mammon commented from their place on Belphegor's shoulder. "Leviathan owes me once he returns. He's definitely lost that bet."

Lussuria and Belphegor both laugh at Mammon 's point. There was definitely something between their second in command and his dark haired best friend, or at least there was certainly the potential to be...eventually.

Lussuria supported it one hundred percent due to the sheer adorableness of the relationship between Squalo and Kazumi. Plus it didn't hurt that they we both were fantastic~ eye candy!

The prince approved because he the only time the shark peasant would make delicious dango was when Kazumi commanded him to.

Mammon was satisfied that he had made money off the arrangement, and didn't really care beyond that.

However, all three of them could agree on one point: it was hilarious to watch how whipped Squalo Superbi of the Varia, Sword Emperor was when Inoue Kazumi was around.

Absolutely priceless.

 **82.**

And so when the morning came Squalo and Lussuria left. Leaving Kazumi with an eleven year old Belphegor and Mammon. And, well all the guards and lesser members of the Flame Squads, but Kazumi didn't really see them, and since they really didn't pose a threat, Kazumi didn't really pay attention to them.

(What Kazumi was not aware of was that Squalo had given all of the Squads a warning about offending Kazumi - something along the line of, "If you upset, annoy, talk to, disrespect in any way, or even fucking look at Kazumi wrong I'll cut all of you scum down! VOI !". So they were all avoiding their second in command's childhood friend like the plague.)

So, the weeks passed slowly

* * *

The first night after Squalo had left, Kazumi had been bored, so he had made his way to the five star chef's kitchen that was in the castle. He soon had company watching him as he began to prepare the food. Kazumi was going to make traditional Japanese fare. Thank goodness Squalo had had the forethought to stock the kitchen with a plethora of supplies to make Japanese cuisine.

"Shishishi~," sounded from Belphegor, who was proped on the kitchen bar's counter. Mammon, as per the norm, situated on the blonde's shoulder. "What is the peasant cooking the prince for supper? Will the prince be able to stomach this?"

"Salmon, tuna, and unagi sashimi, with Wasabi on the side. Onegiri wrapped in nori with pickled plums in the middle and Shiro miso soup. Dessert is going to be daifuku with sweet anko bean paste in the center." Kazumi supplied succinctly as he chopped away, occasionally twirling the knife between his fingers as he worked.

There was a pause as the two observers considered the list he had reported.

"You are not going to make the prince dango for dessert, shark whipping peasant?" Asked Belphegor, with his head turned sideways, an intense feeling in the air as the blond grinned. Several knives had appeared in the boy's hands.

Kazumi, quite frankly, ignored him and continued what he was doing.

"Shishishi, don't ignore royalty, shark whipping peasant!" Belphegor exclaimed, sending his knives straight towards the side of Kazumi's head.

"Mou, Bel, Squalo will kill you if he comes back to find you killed his friend." Mammon said, while doing absolutely nothing to stop Bel.

Kazumi rolled his eyes. Easily he raised his hand, the one holding the large Japanese knife, and with quick motions flicks of his wrist had deflected all of the approaching knives. Without breaking the movement of his wrist his knife came down cleanly through the prime slab of tuna, as if nothing had ever happened. He wasn't worried about the incident getting back to Squalo - he'd already alluded to being able to effectively handle knives, so a bit more wasn't much of a giveaway. Besides if Squalo learned of this, he would most likely focus on the fact that Belphegor had attacked Kazumi who was a 'civilian', and not concentrate of the fact that the 'untrained ill civilian' had efficiently defended himself.

"Hmm. The shark whipping peasant is better than I thought. The prince approves." Belphagor declared after they had eaten what Kazumi had prepared. "Though the prince still wishes to know why the peasant did not make dango."

Kazumi's cheeks tinged slightly pink as he turned to look at the nearest window. He was not going to answer that.

"Mou. I bet he can't make it. That's probably why he makes Squalo do it every time." Mammon stated rationally. Incidentally hitting the eye with the kunai.

Kazumi would neither confirm nor deny that statement.

* * *

"Mou. Kazumi-kun," Mammon addressed Kazumi, who was curled up in a chair in a parlor he had found reading about a boy by the name of Harry Potter - it was a series he had just begun to read, and so far he was enjoying it quite well.

Kazumi found it odd to be addressed as 'kun' by someone he was fairly certain was, physically at the very least, two. But, whatever. "Yes, Mammon-san?"

"You have been friends with Squalo for long time, yes?"

"Hn. Since we were four." Kazumi agreed, quickly gathering where this was going.

"Mou. Most of his life, then. So, you must know everything about him - _everything."_

"Hn. I have copies of our recitals when we were younger. Our mothers once forced us to wear tutus during a recreation of a Russian ballet. This is something you would like, yes?"

"Mou. Of course." said the baby with a sinister smile.

Kazumi smiled in return, and bloody eyes glared at the baby. "I'll let you have a copy, but be warned if you do anything to actually harm him," Mammon visibly started at the flames that appeared to be licking at his skin, " I assure you that there will be hell to pay."

Kazumi smiled and all of a sudden the Mammon s vision had returned to normal.

"Are we clear, Mammon-san?"

Mammon nodded, impressed against their will.

* * *

"Shark whipping peasant, the prince has a request. " Belphagor said as his head popped over the chaise Kazumi was lounging on. Kazumi glanced up from the book he was reading ( he had finished the Harry Potter series a few days ago and had started on a book called '1984' by George Orwell) and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Shishishi, you mentioned at dinner the other day, shark whipping peasant, that you had gotten the shark to enter a talent competition, yes?"

Kazumi nodded in confirmation.

"When the shark returns, the prince desires to watch the dance the peasants performed." Announced the blond.

Kazumi considered it for a moment. Well, he had no reason not to do a recreation of the dance. It wasn't as if he had forgotten the dance - that would be ridiculous if he had - and personally he thought it would be fun to have an excuse to dance with Squalo before he returned to Japan. And it wasn't like it would be all that difficult to coerce Squalo into doing it...

"Hn."

"Shishishi. The prince is pleased."

* * *

The moment Squalo entered Varia Castle ( still covered from his target's blood - they had been sent to leave a message and yes Squalo and Lussuria had fucking succeeded) Kazumi greeted him at the door with two fingers to the forehead and :

"Hn."

"VOI! I don't care how fucking happy you are to see me! I've told you a fucking million times to stop poking me on the forehead! " Squalo exclaimed.

Kazumi smirked and walked away, announcing as he went. " Squalo, after you make me dango we are going to perform the dance we did at the talent competition for the rest of the Varia."

"VOI! You are so damned -! W-wait a fucking minute! What the hell did you just say?! Oi! Kazumi!"

* * *

Kazumi got his dango, Belphegor stole some, and Lussuria recorded Kazumi and Squalo as they danced.

Two days later, after spending the last two days exploring the Italian countryside with Squalo - managing to get to spend some time together alone-, Kazumi boarded a plane for Japan.

 **83.**

Time trickled on.

 **84.**

Yamamoto looked down at his son's midterm report card with deep frown. He could not figure out how Takeshi's grades were so dismal! His highest grade was a B and it was the only B! And it was in English - which was great - but Yamamoto honestly expected Takeshi's grade to be higher in English considering he was fluent due to Kazumi speaking it to him has he grew up (that and Italian which was partly from Squalo as well). But really, four C's were just ridiculous. Especially considering... Yamamoto shot a quick glance at Kazumi who was watching him and Takeshi (who was standing right in front of Yamamoto waiting for him to say something).

Yamamoto sighed and looked at his son. "Takeshi, son, I have to say - I am disappointed. I know you're smarter than this! You could do so much better if you only applied yourself."

Takeshi scratched the back of his head sheepishly, still, as his son always was, grinning. "I know, but, Tou-san, I'm really busy with baseball and-"

"No buts, Takeshi." Yamamoto said, rather sternly. He loved his son and was happy that Takeshi was passionate about something he loved (and oh had his boy gotten that from Tomoko) but he was concerned about his son's future if his grades kept on like this. "Baseball is all well and fine, but you need to prioritize your schedule a little better. I know you can get better grades than this. Please try to be a bit more like Kazumi, he was in college at your age you know." Yamamoto was proud of both his boys. "If he could do that I know you can -"

"Yamamoto-san," interrupted Kazumi softly, but rather firmly.

Both Yamamoto's turned their heads towards Kazumi. Yamamoto-san looked at his step-son curiously. Kazumi rarely got involved when he was disciplining Takeshi, he knew that Kazumi recognized the fact that Takeshi was his son and that he had different methods of parenting than Kazumi had been accustomed to with Tomoko. Yamamoto had refrained from acting too much like a parent to Kazumi after Tomoko's passing because while he loved Kazumi like a son, Kazumi _wasn't_ his son, and Yamamoto respected that - and plus, Kazumi was so mature that disciplining him had never been an issue.

"I would appreciate it," Kazumi continued as he did the dishes (Kazumi had received his chef's license shortly after he had returnedhome from his last trip to Italy). The restaurant was closed for the night -Takeshi had come in late from the last baseball practice before summer break, and they were cleaning up when Takeshi had drug out the report card. "If you didn't bring me, or my accomplishments in this discussion. Take-chan is his own person and I am sure he is well aware -considering how much he always cried when I returned to Kyoto Daigaku - of how young I entered college. Please do not use my achievements against Take-chan. We are two different people with different strengths and weaknesses. It would be unfair to him if you were to always compare him to me. I would not be happy with it either.

"Take-chan loves baseball. Isn't it good that he wants to excel at something he is happy with? Everyone is different. Academics may not be the path Take-chan wishes to pursue, and while I do think that good grades may allow more options available to him in the future; the same may be available if he procures a baseball scholarship." Yamamoto watches as Kazumi sighes (he vaguely wonders if Kazumi needs to take a break, but after the last conversation Yamamoto had with him about 'treating him as if he were made of glass' he really doesn't want to risk irritating Kazumi with the question), and scrubs at the last plate. "Of course, this is entirely between the two of you, so you are perfectly able to ignore what I've said. However, I do specifically request that my name be kept out of it." Kazumi placed the last dish on the drying rack, wished the Yamamoto and Takeshi 'Goodnight' and retreated to his bedroom (that settled it, Kazumi had to have been very tired).

Yamamoto looked at his son, who was looking at the doorway Kazumi had just exited through. Yamamoto grimaced, Kazumi, as usual was right.

"Takeshi." Yamamoto said, causing his son's head to snap in his direction.

"Yeah, Tou-san?"

"Just listen to your brother. That kid's wise beyond his years." Yamamoto sighed, running a hand through his hair as he smiled. "Though do promise you'll try to study a little more."

Takeshi laughed. "Hai, Tou-san!"

 **85.**

The restaurant had been especially busy one day right after Takeshi's summer break had started. So much so that Kazumi had had to run out to the grocery store in the middle of the day to gather more ingredients in preparation for the dinner rush. A strange feeling had been bothering him all day (and had he still been a rogue ninja he would have payed more attention to it), but due to the constant tasks that required his attention that odd feeling was pushed to the back of his mind.

Until closing time.

He found a note left by Takeshi. One that said he had been talking to Squ-nii on the phone. Take-chan wrote that he was going to Italy to visit for a few weeks this summer. His brother also wrote that Squ-nii had thought it would be a wonderful. Suprise. If they didn't tell Kazumi until it was all said and done.

The note burned to ashes in Kazumi's hand before he turned to find Yamamoto-san.

He was not happy to learn that Yamamoto-san had been aware and approved of this venture.

Kazumi was on a fight to Italy the next morning.

 **86.**

Squalo did not get nervous. It just generally wasn't an emotion that he concerned himself with, he was the toughest bastard around and if he couldn't personally accomplish something, chances were he knew someone who could and would. However, that never took in Inoue Kazumi to account. He didn't (and would never) have to fight his best friend and Kazumi wasn't someone he could just send someone else to deal with, not that he would want to do that in the first place. (Kazumi was his closest friend (he didn't dare consider him anything more...yet) and he knew Squalo like no one else. Kazumi could get him to do things that no one else could ever hope to do. Squalo had no problem admitting (to himself) that he loved the devil that was Inoue Kazumi. All of the previous pretty damned good reasons not to tick Kazumi the fuck off).

Which was precisely why he was... a little fucking nervous that he had (practically) kidnapped (did it count as kidnapping when he had the brat- ah, Take-chan's father's permission?) Kazumi's (aka the devil that he was friends with) precious baby brother. The very baby brother that Kazumi had made abundantly clear he wanted no where near anything that was remotely related to the mafia (and apparently Squalo, Squalo's parents, and Take-chan's own father didn't fall into the category of 'remotely related to the mafia' in Kazumi's eyesight, because Take-chan had been around all of the previously mentioned before.)

He had two reasons for doing what he had done as he had. The first was that Take-chan had talked him into it. There plain and fucking simple. He had caved to the pleading of a recently turned ten year old. He entirely blamed Kazumi for him being weak to the kid's requests. All Kazumi's fault. Really. The second was that it was that Squalo hadn't seen Kazumi in person since he had made a short trip to Japan in January, and even then he hadn't been able to stay as long as he would have liked, and he wanted to spend some time with Kazumi. It only being a few days away from Kazumi's seventeenth birthday didn't hurt as far as timing went.

Plus, Squalo had been hearing from Take-chan that he wanted to see Italy for years now, so it seemed like a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Take-chan would get his visit and ergo since Take-chan was visiting (and without informing Kazumi of said visit) Kazumi wouldn't be far behind.

(Hopefully the Kazumi who wouldn't be far behind wouldn't be one who wanted to kill him. Not that Kazumi could, he wasn't trained to fight (something Squalo had never understood for the longest time because ,fuck, fighting was damn fun- but was kind of grateful for now, because, hell, Kazumi could be really fucking scary when he was pissed)).

Regardless of his fucked up nerves at the moment he was pretty damned exited to see Kazumi and-

"VOI! Shitty prince get the fuck away from Take-chan with those damned knives! I'll kill you, trash!"

"Shishishi~. The prince is merely playing a game with the peasant." Said the blond as he slung his arms around Take-chan. The tips of Belphegor's knives caressing Take-chan's neck.

A few feet away Lussuria commented with an over dramatic sigh. "Oh dear~. Kazu-kun won't be happy about this at all."

"VOI! I'm going to kill you!"

"Just try to. Shishishi." Bel taunted as he drug a blissfully oblivious, rather amused, Take-chan who completely trusted Squalo to take care of him, away.

Dammit! Kazumi was going to fucking murder him! But not before he slashed that fucking fake prince into fucking fish food!

* * *

After successfully (and safely) rescuing Take-chan from Bel, it was well after midnight. Squalo got Take-chan to fall asleep to a movie (Take-chan had been very upset to realize he had left his recording of Kazumi singing his lullaby at home) in a bedroom that was off Squalo's own suite, and Squalo himself headed down to the kitchen.

He had work to do. He had a fuck-ton of dango to make to even have a chance of appeasing Kazumi once he arrived.

 **87.**

Kazumi was greeted at the entrance of Varia Castle by Take- chan, who looked perfectly intact, Squalo who was noticiably standing a foot behind Take-chan (very smart move, in Kazumi's opinion) and who was holding a large bag in his hand.

"Happy Birthday, Kazu-nii!" Take-chan exclaimed as he pulled Kazumi into a hug. "Squ-nii and I have a surprise for you!"

"Is that so? Then I can't wait to find out what my surprise is." Kazumi said, smiling adoringly at his brother.

"You're going to love it!" Take-chan promised before grabbing the bag Squalo was holding out of his hand and heading out to where a sleek black car was parked just outside the entrance.

Once he was out the door, Kazumi glared at Squalo accusingly. "This is the only warning. Don't you ever take Take-chan away without informing me. You know perfectly well how I do not wish for my brother to be involved in the mafia." If for some reason his brother one day decided that he wanted to join the mafia world...well that was a different story. If it made his brother happy Kazumi would not be able to stop him - but until that time...

"VOI! I fucking know that! But Take-chan wanted to visit!" Squalo explained looking rather flustered.

Kazumi's glare almost immediately disappeared at the expression on Squalo's face. He snorted. "Hn. And Belphagor and Lussuria say _I've_ got you whipped." Kazumi commented before also heading outside.

He wondered what his surprise was?

Behind him Squalo sputtered. "VOI! The fuck -?! Kazumi! Wait one fucking minute!"

 **88.**

Kazumi was rather surprised when they arrived at Mafia Land, however, he was more than a little curious when he was informed that the trip to Mafia Land wasn't his surprise itself.

He had fun as he, Squalo, and Take-chan rode roller coasters, played various festival games (Squalo still couldn't shoot a still target to save his life, they discovered - and neither could the same old man who had attempted to shoot them when they were kids, another discovery of the day (Take-chan on the other hand - who had gone, thankfully before Squalo got them run off - had done extremely well at the shooting game), and went to visit Squalo's parents. Katarina wrapped Kazumi in a tight hug the moment she got her hands on him and then harshly berated him for concealing his poor health (she had already lectured him over the phone, but had apparently felt that another one had to be given in person -and this was the first time he had seen her since he had been hospitalized). After that Katarina latched herself onto Take-chan, gushing about how much he had grown and 'oh my you look so much like Tomoko! Your eyes are just like hers!'

As usual Squalo's father hung in the background taking pictures as his wife had instructed.

Instead of cake they all ate dango - which turned out to be what was in the large bag Squalo had been carrying around all day. Afterward Squalo and Take-chan excused themselves for a moment, and soon enough they returned carrying something large covered in a sheet between them.

Take-chan grinned as he took over taking carrying whatever it was and placed it down on the table in front of Kazumi.

"Is this my surprise, Take-chan?" Kazumi asked, examining it without yet taking off the cover.

"Yeah! You're going to love it, Kazu-nii!"

Squalo sneered. "VOI! He'd better."

Kazumi rolled his eyes and uncovered the sheet to reveal... a large black crow.

Kazumi could feel his gaze softening. He opened the door to the beautiful cage, and reached a hand inside. The crow's deep black eyes looked at him suspiciously for a moment. Then the bird appeared to deem him worthy and perched upon his hand. Kazumi gently removed the silky black crow from its cage and petted it gently.

Kazumi looked at the waiting faces. "You were right, Take-chan, I love him. Thank you."

"Really?" Katarina asked skeptically. "I thought Take-chan had misheard you when he said you mentioned you would like a pet crow."

"VOI! Kazumi you are so weird. Who besides you would want a crow as a pet?" Squalo commented, then reached to pet the crow. Squalo had to pull his hand away quickly - as everyone else laughed- because the crow seemed to understand the insult to his master and tried to snap at Squalo's hand.

"Crazy bird!" Squalo exclaimed (Kazumi was happy to note that Squalo was watching his language around Take-chan).

Take-chan laughed at Squalo, then asked Kazumi. "So, what are you going to name him, Kazu-nii?"

It only took a moment before Kazumi answered. "Shisui."

 **89.**

Take-chan stayed with Squalo's parents as Squalo and Kazumi took a walk - an odd sight considering Kazumi's new shoulder decoration (the crow seemed offended when Kazumi had tried to return Shisui to his cage). Soon enough they came across a small grove of trees. Squalo stopped and Kazumi took a look around, recognizing the place as the spot he and Squalo had meet roughly thirteen years ago.

"VOI! I hope you actually like that fucking bird, Kazumi, and weren't just saying that to make Take-chan happy! 'Cuz your stuck with that damned thing for a long ass time!" Squalo commented randomly after they sat in silence under the largest tree in the grove.

"Hn?" Kazumi questioned.

"VOI! I fucking hope you don't think I picked out you a normal bird! That damned thing will live off your flames! So you'll have that fucking bird until you die!" Squalo explained. "Which had better be a very long ways away, Kazumi!"

Kazumi was happy to hear that he would have Shisui until he died (he had lost the original Shisui much too soon). Kazumi smiled. "Hn. I do actually like him."

Squalo shifted uncomfortably and Kazumi instantly realized there was something specific Squalo had brought him out here to talk about.

"Get on with it, Squalo." Kazumi commanded.

Squalo bristled. "VOI! You are so damned demanding, Kazumi! I plan this entire fucking day - trying to be fucking romantic _and_ include your precious baby brother - because heaven fucking forbid he not be included on your birthday! And now! Now I try to fucking ask you - !"

Kazumi pressed a kiss to Squalo's forehead. "Of course I'll go out with you, Squalo." Kazumi rolled his eyes in exasperation. "We might as well have been dating for years now anyway."

Squalo's face turned red. "VOI! Damn you, Kazumi! I didn't even get the fucking words out of my mouth!" Squalo complained.

"Hn. Shut up and kiss me, idiot."

"So fucking demanding!" Nevertheless Squalo leaned in to kiss Kazumi -

Only to have Shisui fly off of Kazumi's shoulder and begin attacking Squalo. Which, quite frankly was hilarious, and caused Kazumi to chuckle as Squalo struggled to get Shisui away from him.

"VOI! Kazumi get your damned bird away from me! Get off me you fucking crazy bird before I make you a bird-ka-bab! Get off!"

Finally once Kazumi managed to compose himself (mostly when Squalo seemed about to carry through with his threat to kill Shisui). He convinced Shisui to leave Squalo alone and return to his perch on Kazumi's shoulder (the bird looked very smug for some reason).

"VOI! I'm going to kill that fucking bird!" Squalo announced, his hair a mess due to Shisui's antics, as they were walking back to Squalo's parent's home.

"Hn. You are not going to kill my birthday present, Squalo."

"Dammit!"

 **90.**

They returned to Varia Castle the next day. The rest of Kazumi and Take-chan's time spent in Italy was touring the local villages (similar to what Kazumi had done the last time he had visited, but he didn't mind doing so again, after all, Take-chan had never been to Italy before) with Squalo, Lussuria, and Belphagor as their tour guides. (Leviathan had said he had better things to do, and Mammon had elected to stay at the castle to count their money (Kazumi also decided that it would be better to leave Shisui at the castle - which the crow had not been happy about in the slightest, so unhappy Shisui had made off with some of Kazumi's dango in revenge)).

It was interesting...to say the least.

The very first day they had gone out Lussuria had latched himself onto Kazumi and Take-chan and drug them into the nearest clothing shop he could find - with and irritated Squalo and and amused Belphagor following close behind. Which had been alright, right up until Lussuria tried to kill a shop assitant who had insulted his taste in fashion, Belphagor had gotten bord and started carving his name into the store's walls with his knives, and Squalo had gotten in a shouting match with someone who had tried to flirt with Kazumi - flirting which Kazumi had been completely oblivious to (he had just thought the girl was exceedingly friendly and was just making random conversation).

Somehow or another, Kazumi and Take-chan left the store with newly tailored suits that, to Kazumi, looked very nice on the both of them; no one in the shop had been killed either, which was very surprising.

His little brother had been very amused at it all.

The next venture into the little countryside towns that neighbored Varia Castle weren't much different and neither were the following ones (Kazumi thought they were very tenacious considering _something_ happened every time the group left the castle together, but Take-chan was enjoying himself, so Kazumi couldn't really be bothered to care).

On another note, the rest of the Varia managed to figure out - somehow- that Squalo and Kazumi were dating.

Kazumi was a bit disturbed that they had placed bets on it, and also a bit frustrated that he hadn't been able to tell Take-chan about the development himself -

 **91.**

"Mou, pay up Levi." Mammon commanded at breakfast a few days into Kazumi and Take-chan's stay at Varia Castle.

Leviathan's head snapped between Squalo and Kazumi. "You've got to be joking. They don't act like they're dating." Leviathan declared after a moment.

Squalo spit out the milk he had been drinking at that moment. "VOI! What the fucking hell are you scum talking about?!"

"Kyaa~!" Lussuria squealed as Belphagor laughed before beginning his breakfast. Lussuria continued, "It's true, Levi~! And aren't they such a darling couple~? I could just eat them up!"

Take-chan looked between Squalo and Kazumi, grinning widely. "Really? You two finally decided to get together?" Take-chan laughed as Kazumi nodded and Squalo swung his sword had around violently, as he screamed at Mammon and Leviathan. "It's about time!"

"Hn." Kazumi agreed.

"- VOI! You fucking bastards had better stop fucking betting on anything to do with me or Kazumi, fucking scum! I'll kill you useless trash -"

"I wonder how they found out though," Take-chan pondered, looking at Mammon, Lussuria, and Belphagor, who had all seemed to know before anything had been said or confirmed.

"That would be nice to know." Kazumi said with his eyes narrowed in a glare.

"- I'll murder you fuckers! -"

* * *

Later Kazumi searched Squalo's bedroom and found the hidden, microscopic camera, he then infiltrated Lussuria's room ( even Kazumi was a little wary of all the corpses that he had found in the man's room) and found all the recordings of Squalo and him. Kazumi destroyed all of it. Kazumi then informed Squalo of the situation.

After Kazumi and Take-chan returned to Japan the Varia (every single member) was introduced to a training regimen from Hell -courtesy of Squalo and Kazumi (who had helped plan it).

Kazumi had been very amused at the training videos- he had not, however, allowed Take-chan to watch them with him. There was far too much bloodshed and cursing for his baby brother to watch them.

 **92.**

Time passed as it always did. That year, after Kazumi's birthday, Squalo visits increased to much more than they had been before. Kazumi and Squalo still spoke on the phone every day and emailed constantly. Squalo's visits, which had been sporadic and unpredictable, now had leveled out to once every three months for a week or two. Squalo even made it back for the Namimori talent competition every year, where Kazumi and Squalo again and again danced and took home the first place trophy.

Though Kazumi and Squalo were dating, their relationship didn't really change all that much. They were still just Kazumi and Squalo - two people who knew the other and all their counterpart's buttons. The distance between where they each lived didn't affect them, because, in a way, they had been making a long distance relationship (of a different sort) work for years without complications.

Kazumi and Hibari-kun met up frequently at tea shops to play go. Kazumi even got the boy to regularly attend Take-chan's baseball games and had somehow turned the boy into a baseball fan nearly on par with Take-chan's enthusiasm for the sport (only very much less vocal about it).

Take-chan's grades never really improved that much after Yamamoto-san's conversation with him, however, his baseball skills did improve due to his constant dedication to the sport. Take-chan and Hibari-kun weren't friends, per say, however they did get along quite well considering their very polar opposite personalities.

Kazumi continued to assist Yamamoto-san at TakeSushi. He also began to work online for a publishing company out of Tokyo. He used his skills with languages to translate Japanese works into English, Chinese, French and various other languages he had picked up over the years. It wasn't what he had gone to school for (though he had used his graphic design skills to remake the TakeSushi menus over the years and create an online presence for the restaurant- he also had (with the help of Yamamoto-san and Take-chan) built a greenhouse for his gardening hobby outside the dojo) but he was still qualified for the work and rather enjoyed it. It allowed him to read many books he probably wouldn't have if he hadn't been working for the publishing company.

 **93.**

Take-chan entered his first year of junior high. Kazumi's little brother was very popular due to his easy-going personality and above average athletic ability. And as always Kazumi was endlessly proud.

Then Take-chan came home with a broken arm.

The day after that -

Takeshi came home and with a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head and explained, "A girl called me out to the roof today to confess to me, I guess? I turned her down. And anyway, Kazu-nii, I was pushed onto the rusty fence up there. It broke and I nearly fell off the roof! But this real cool guy named Sawada Tsunayoshi came and saved me! Funny thing is that for some reason the entire school thought I was planning to jump or something? I guess the girl who confessed to me must have been misunderstood when she explained the situation."

When Take-chan finished his story the potted herb plant that Kazumi had been holding was cracked, soil falling out from the sides. Kazumi gently set it down and exited his greenhouse.

He vaguely wondered how much clout Hibari-kun had with the Namimori police. Ah, well, he knew that Hibari-kun knew all the best places to hide the bodies at least. Kazumi would be the first to admit that his corpse disposal skills were a bit rusty from lack of use.

 **94.**

" _Shishishi~. This is Prince Belphagor, what does the peasant want?"_

There was shouting and the sound of things breaking in the background.

"Hey Bel!" Takeshi said enthusiastically. "It's Takeshi. Could you please get Squ-nii for me?"

 _"And why should the Prince do as the peasant wishes? Shishishi."_ Regardless, Belphagor put the phone on speakerphone, specifically on a setting that would allow the phone conversation to be heard throughout Varia Castle. The Prince was not going to track the Shark down.

"Um. Because I heard Kazu-nii and Hibari-kun discussing places to dispose of bodies and I'm a little concerned Kazu-nii is seriously plotting to murder someone."

" _What? The shark whipping peasant wants to kill someone and he didn't invite the Prince? That is most displeasing. Shishishi."_

Then a clamor of voices came over the line.

" _\- VOI! What the fuck! Kazumi's going to off some scum!? Why didn't he tell me?! Does he need help with the cop fuckers?!"_

"Ah! Squ-nii -"

" _Darling~! I'm so proud of your brother! I'll bet the corpse will be ab~so~ lutely~ divine. Kazumi has such wonderful taste."_ Lussuria cut in.

" _Mou. He could have paid me and I would have done it."_ Mammon said.

" _Voi! What did the fucker do to piss off Kazumi so bad!?"_ Squ-nii questioned.

"Um...She kind of pushed me off the roof - and you know how I broke my arm yesterday? Yeah, well she told everyone I was going to jump."

There was absolute silence on the other end of the line. Which was quite concerning considering who all Takeshi was speaking to.

"So, yeah, Squ-nii, could you please try to talk Kazu-nii out of whatever he's planning?"

" _No fucking way, Take-chan, that bitch is dead_."

* * *

The next day, according to all apparent record a girl from Namimori Junior High had been suddenly selected to study abroad and no one saw her after that.

 **Please tell me what ya'll think, and be nice please, it's my birthday :).**


	3. Part 21

**Part 2.1**

 _ **PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE! THANK YOU.**_

 **AN:Okay, so this is not part 3 of To Live Again, I'm still working on it and hit sort of a writer's block at the point I'm at, at the moment. So, I decided to write this, which can be considered an alternative continuation to part 1. Ya'll don't have to consider this really part of the story at all - I just didn't think it would be a good idea to repost part 1 with this added to it, especially since this is rather short. This was based on a review from myriad-souls. I hope ya'll enjoy, and if you don't - feel free to ignore this part's existence, or consider it an AU one-shot - whatever. This part is complete as is. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors it was mostly typed on my phone and the spell check is horrible on it. **

***I promise that this part does not contain any spoilers for part 3, nor will anything in this part be relevant or foreshadowing to part 3.**

 **61.1**

" I'm sorry. There is nothing more I can do for him. He has no flames and his body is unable to produce them. He's not going to last much longer. A year at the most if he's careful; only months if he's not." Shamal sighed, bad news was always difficult to deliver, even if it was to a male patient's family.

" The best I can tell you is to enjoy the time you've got left with him."

And with that Shamal left Squalo Superbi and Yamamoto Tsuyoshi alone in their grief - he was selfishly glad that he didn't have to tell Inoue-san ' s younger brother the news, thank god the kid didn't know about Dying Will Flames because even he wasn't heartless enough to _want_ to break a kid's heart.

 **62.1**

When the doctor left the room Tsuyoshi barely noticed. All he could here were the words " _There is nothing more to do...a year left...months._ " Keep repeating in his head, taunting him, and making an knot of anguish fill his gut, and the threat of tears sting his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to try and hold them back, so soon he had trails streaming down his cheeks.

When Squalo began destroying the furniture in the room - which only consisted of a table and a few chairs - he just buried his face in his hands.

He had failed his beautiful Tomoko. He ha promised, swore to her that he would take care of Kazumi no matter what if something were to happen to her. And he failed - failed her and Kazumi!

He wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all! There was nothing he could do! He hadn't known anything was even wrong and now it was far too late and far out of his power to do anything!

Oh god, how was he going to tell Takeshi his brother was dying.

Tsuyoshi wept as Squalo smashed the window in rage.

 **63.1**

It took an hour for Tsuyoshi to pull himself together after Dr. Shamal had broken the news. Squalo had long since turned the formerly sterile conference room into a war zone. With broken pieces of furniture strewn everywhere that were so mangled that they were unidentifiable.

Tsuyoshi slowly stood up, feeling twenty years older than when he had sat down.

He placed his hand gently on Squalo's shoulder, the teen had - when he had run out of inanimate objects to destroy - had collapsed on the cold tile floor and stared blankly at a spot on the wall.

"Come on, get up Squalo-kun. We don't have time to be wasting."

Squalo scowled, interpreting the words as Tsuyoshi had meant them: that they didn't have enough time with Kazumi still alive to waste any of it breaking down.

The teen jerked himself off the floor and the pair headed out the door.

 **64.1**

Squalo went into Kazumi's hospital room and sat and stared at his best friend's sleeping face. Yamamoto had pulled Take-chan out of the room to break the news to him in private, and so that the kid wouldn't wake Kazumi up in the aftermath.

He noted every line and curve on Kazumi's face, and he noted the needles and machine that they hooked his friend up to with disgust. This frail, ill form laying prone on sterile sheets wasn't his best friend. His Kazumi was lively, loved to dance, play catch with his baby brother, tease Squalo, watch Squalo make dango, cook...not...not lie in this fucking room in this fucking hospital attached to these fucking machines and die in this bland place that reeked of cleaning supplies and decay.

Squalo gently, with more care than he had ever touched anything before, placed Kazumi's hand between his own. Inspecting them, he found the skin paper thin, veins shining clear through. His fingers were long and painfully thin, a thinness that generally spoke of only age or illness. Squalo darkly contemplated that it was illness that had his friend's (who was so fucking _young_ \- who the hell had a terminal illness at fucking _sixteen!_ ) hands in such a state.

Then he felt eyes on him. Squalo scowled still looking at Kazumi's hand.

"Hn. Nails that bad, huh? I knew I should have repainted them yesterday." Kazumi teased.

"Fuck you, Kazumi." Squalo said, with more exhaustion than any real heat.

"Only if you get me some dango."

And that was only something that Kazumi would say, the fucking bastard.

Squalo's grip tightened on Kazumi's hand, not allowing himself to fall into the normal pattern of their banter. "Yamamoto, the elder, is telling your br - Take-chan the news. Congrats its fucking terminal."

"Hn." Kazumi nodded.

Squalo's temper exploded. "VOI! You goddamn bastard! What the hell were you thinking!? Hiding this from me! What the in that messed up brain of yours made you think that it was a fucking good idea to hide that you're sick! Really fucking sick - hell! Dying!" Squalo couldn't believe that he had actually managed to say the 'd' word but he didn't stop there, he had some things he need to vent.

"My best friend is fucking dying! And if that isn't a hell of a note by itself, the fucker's known for for years and didn't say a fucking word about it! Not one fucking word! There may have been some kind of treatment, dammit! Maybe if it was caught early enough something could have been done! You asshole! Did you ever even think about telling me?!"

Kazumi reached out to touch Squalo on the forehead, but he pulled away. He couldn't stay in this room with Kazumi right now - he had to get out. He had some arrangements to make.

(He didn't see the sadness in Kazumi's eyes as he watched Squalo leave, hand still weakly outstretched.)

 **65.1**

"You're lying!" Takeshi yelled at his father, ignoring the pained expression his Otou-san had on his face. No. All Takeshi could feel was anger at the awful lies that his Otou-san was saying about Kazu-nii. He said Kazu-nii was dying! How could he say something so awful!

Takeshi ran to Kazu-nii's room to get his brother to deny his Otou-san's awful lies (he would feel much better hearing the truth - that Kazu-nii wasn't dying - from Kazu-nii himself).

Kazu-nii who played baseball with him, took him to baseball games, made all of his birthday cakes, sang him to sleep every night as he tucked him in - Kazu-nii could not be dying!

Takeshi slid past Squ-nii who was leaning on the wall outside Kazu-nii's door on the phone, and quickly backtracked into Kazu-nii's room slamming the door behind him. He climbed into the bed with Kazu-nii and buried his head into his big brother's chest. A soft touch was on the back of his head in seconds as Kazu-nii petted his hair.

"What's wrong Take-chan?"

"Otou-san's lying!" Takeshi yelled into Kazu-nii's chest, making it come out muffled but still understandable.

"Hn?" Kazu-nii prompted.

"He's lying!" Takeshi reiterated. "He said you were dying! Why would he say something like that?!" Takeshi demanded to know.

Instead of the quick reassurance that Kazu-nii was not dying and that Otou-san was indeed lying like Takeshi had expected, there was a tense pause. So long that Takeshi fearfully looked up into his brother's dark eyes.

In Kazu-nii's eyes Takeshi found the hard truth.

Takeshi's eyes filled with tears. He clung to Kazu-nii and wailed.

 **66.1**

" _Shishishi. This is the Prince speaking and he will hunt you down and kill you should you waste the Prince's time. Speak now, peasant_."

"I won't be back to Headquarters for the next few months. Don't destroy the fucking castle or kill each other. Don't disturb me. And change that damn answering machine recording."

 **67.1**

It had taken a few hours and a lot of money to speed up the process, but Squalo had everything planned out and ready.

Now all he had to do was get Kazumi to agree. And hell, if he didn't Squalo would gust grab him and sling him over his shoulder and drag him along, it's not like Kazumi was in any shape to protest or fight him.

* * *

" Hn?"

" Don't you 'hn' me! If you think I'm going to let my best friend die in this goddamn hospital you've got another fucking thing coming!" Squalo yelled at a startled Kazumi. He grabbed Kazumi and carried him out of the room in a princess tote.

A car, train, and boat and several hours later Squalo and Kazumi, along with Yamamoto and Take-chan arrived at a private island. It was home to a traditional Japanese inn with hot springs, and an array of exotic and native flora were grown on the island. It had taken some arm twisting and money, but Squalo had secured the use of the island for their own personal use for a year

It exactly the kind of place that he knew Kazumi would love, traditinal with a shit - ton of flowers...and most importantly, everyone Kazumi cared for the most in one place.

Yamamoto had closed the restaurant and taken Take-chan out of school - stating a family emergency as the reason.

Everything so that Kazumi would ... _pass_ in a place surrounded by everything and everyone he loved.

 _God_.

Kazumi had smiled and thanked Squalo, but Kazumi's smile had been all the thanks Squalo had needed.

 **68.1**

The next few months were spent in a predictable pattern. Everyone would get up and take a stroll around the island, always taking time to stop and admire the flowers. Some days, Take-chan would go up to Kazumi smiling, and place a crown of flowers on his head.

(The walks continued even when Kazumi had grown so weak that Squalo had to carry him everywhere.)

(Yamamoto constantly carried around a camera, making it rare not to hear the sound of the shutter going off. He took pictures; _so many pictures of Kazumi_. (Squalo would make certain to get copies of every one.))

Then Squalo and Yamamoto would be in the kitchen preparing lunch. During this time Kazumi and Take-chan would spend some quality time together. (Lunch always consisted of some variations of Kazumi's favorite foods, and dango, there was always all the dango Kazumi could want.)

Then they would spend a few hours talking, laughing, and dancing. (At first it had been Squalo and Kazumi dancing as they always had - a whirlwind of grace and beauty - every second caught on film. Then it was Kazumi in Squalo's arms as the white-haired teen twirled Kazumi around -every second of them caught on film bantering back and forth as Squalo moved them across the floor.)

Dinner and more dango before a relaxing dip in the hot springs. Then they would lay out under the stars on the wooden walkway ouside their rooms until they all fell asleep wrapped in blankets. Occasionally they would make it back to their respective rooms. ( When the cold made Kazumi's coughing worse they made it a point to head back inside.)

(Once during this did Katarina and Squalo's father come to visit. They fit in semlessly into the routine that had been established. Katarina gave Yamamoto a much needed break from the camera and video recorder.)

And the months passed leisurely but with swiftness that no one desired, eventually arriving at the close.

 **69.1**

Takeshi woke up one morning to the sound of Squalo.

Sceaming.

Takeshi ran out of his room, slipping and sliding in his haste terror filling him. His father running right behind him.

Immediately they went to the room Kazu-nii and Squ-nii shared.

Upon arrival at the room Takeshi's knees collapsed from under him, he heard the pained gasp of ' _no!_ ' from his Otou-san behind him. He vaguely wondered where the hot wetness that had appeared on his face had come from before he realized he was crying.

He was crying. Otou-san was crying. Squ-nii was crying ( he had never before seen Squ-nii cry - it was horrifying to watch - Takeshi would remember thinking later). And outside, rain poured down as the whole world cried.

* * *

(It took five hours for Takeshi and Tsuyoshi to pry Squalo off of Kazumi, who's body had long been cold and stiff with death. The whole while Squalo had been clinging to the body of his dearest friend, an endless stream of tears, denial, and confessions of love poured out from Squalo on ears that would never hear it. Kisses pressed on lips that would never fell them.)

 **70.1**

The day after Kazumi's funeral, Yamamoto opened up Takesushi again ( he had to have something to keep himself occupied and so he worked, just as he had done after Tomoko's death).

Takeshi went to a shop with the only recording he had of Kazu-nii singing his lullaby and had twenty copies made (later when Ipods and electronic portable music players became available he had a copy transferred on to one as well) . (Katarina-oba-Chan had already promised to make multiple copies of every picture and recording of Kazu-nii ever made, and even going so as to plan on putting a complete set of copies in a lock box in a bank in Italy).

Squalo spent the whole day yelling at Kazumi's grave until Take-chan came and joined him. Together they sat listening to Kazumi sing on a portable stereo that could play CD's that Take-chan had brought with him.

 **71.1**

Squalo went back to Italy a week after Kazumi's funeral and threw himself into missions - taking one right after the other, never slowing down or taking a break. Even when there were no mission for him to participate in he tormented the Varia's Rain Squad constantly drilling and training them and just overall making their lives hell.

(Belphagor made the mistake of asking him to make dango - just once - and the fake prince never dared to do that again. Squalo had had to be pulled off of Bel by Lussuria and Leviathan to get him to stop attacking the storm guardian.)

 _Time passed but it never took the pain of the loss away._

* * *

Takeshi returned to school. All his peers greeted him happily, always telling them that they had missed him and were so excited for him to be back on the baseball team - the team could really use him. (Takeshi smiled and played happy to see them also - all the while he seethed every time someone said 'Yo, Yamamoto - missed you man!' - they didn't know what it was like to really miss someone and the empty expression boiled his blood. He always smiled though - because Kazu-nii had loved to see him smile.)

He did return to the baseball team - much to the delight of the entire student body, and it became a passion bordering on an obsession.

 _Anything to forget that each day that passed, each week, and each month, and each game was one more that Kazu-nii was never going to see._

Takeshi visited his grave everyday and still had trouble sleeping at night without listening to his brother's lullaby,

* * *

On the year anniversary of Kazumi's death Squalo flew to Japan. He, Take-chan, and Yamamoto spent the whole day watching videos of Kazumi's dance recitals, before taking the stereo and picnic basket full of all of Kazumi's favorites (including the first dango Squalo had made since his best friend's death) and visited Kazumi.

It became a yearly ritual to do this twice a year - once on Kazumi's birthday and once on the day he died.

 **72.1**

Years passed.

Squalo made sure to keep in contact with Take-chan and hear about all he was doing. When he was on a job in Japan sometimes he would even stop by and cheer Take-chan on at one of his baseball games.

Squalo made sure to keep in touch with the Yamamotos; Kazumi would come back from the beyond to kill him otherwise.

 **73.1**

Saying that Hibari Kyoya didn't like crowds was a vast understatement. Crowds were loud, annoying, and he just couldn't stand having multiple people gather around him. Usually he could control it and assure that the weaklings that he went to school with ( he had just started his second year at Namimori Elementary , and was had already satisfactorily trained the students to adhere to his command - offenders would be bitten to death) didn't crowd around him.

Unfortunately he couldn't just start attacking every group of people that walked by him on th street (though he was sorely tempted to do so, even if he did the police wouldn't be able to hold him), so instead to avoid the crowds, every chance he got he cut through the Namimori Cemetery.

One day when he was making such a cut through on one of his paroles of Namimori, he was disturbed by the sound of violent curses. Pulling out his tonfas, he skulked in the direction he heard the yelling coming from. There was a teenager with long white hair cursing like a madman ... in front a a new gravestone... Hibari hesitated. Grief, he was aware, made human beings act out and he debated whether or not he should ignore this disruption of Namimori's peace.

He was about to choose to attack - an offense was an offense after all, no excuses- when the cursing came to a halt as a boy with short black hair and amber eyes walked down the cemetery path with a portable stereo and sat down next to the older teen, who had stopped cursing the second he noticed the younger boy was present.

Hibari watched as the two sat, not speaking, as an English singer with a nice voice played on the stereo. The song played over and over.

Hibari left. Leaving the two to grieve without an audience.

* * *

Hibari made many trips through the cemetery in the following months. Every time he went by the cemetery in the evening, there that boy would be. Sitting in front of that stone listening to that same son over and over, sometimes however, there would be no music, and the boy would just sit there talking to the stone.

On the former days Hibari would observe the amber eyed boy and listen to the music for awhile before leaving, on the latter days he would make sure no one was causing a disturbance in the area, and then quickly leave.

* * *

One day Hibari decided to approach the amber eyed boy (who he had learned was named Yamamoto Takeshi.) He decided to do this because Hibari had been walking past the local baseball field one day and saw Yamamoto playing. He had stopped to observe and had been intrigued by the act the younger boy had put on in front of the people that crowded around him. Out of everything Hibari observed about the interactions Yamamoto had with his teammates - the fake smile the boy constantly sported around them was by far the thing that irritated Hibari the most.

And he wasn't quite sure why.

So, he made up his mind to approach Yamamoto.

 **74.1**

"Ah! Hello!" Yamamoto greeted Hibari with that fake smile, causing Hibari's frown to deepen. "It's nice of you to come out and greet me. I was wondering if you were ever going to talk to me instead of watching me from afar all the time."

It was irksome to be told that Hibari hadn't gone as unnoticed as he had believed himself to be.

"Hn." Was Hibari's reply - one that caused a flash of pain to flash through Yamamoto's eyes briefly, and his fake smile became strained. "It's annoying. If you do not cease it, I will bite you to death."

Yamamoto laughed, his expression amused and slightly confused. "I can't imagine that human flesh would taste good going down, but whatever. What exactly do you want me to stop that's annoying you so much, stalker-kun?"

Hibari growled in offence at what Yamamoto had called him, but didn't pull his tonfas just yet - he wanted answers first. "Smiling. It's fake and it's irritating me. Cease at once."

Yamamoto finally stopped smiling. "What?"

"Hn." Hibari said, refusing to explain himself twice - he thought his first explanation had been more than exceptionable.

Yamamoto nodded, and was quite for a moment in thought. Hibari was beginning to think that this conversation was going to go on for longer than he had anticipated and gracefully sat down on the ground and began to inspect the grave that Yamamoto was always visiting. He noted the date of death and realized that the anniversary of this 'Inoue Kazumi's ' death was about to come around ( he vaguely wondered if the loud white- haired teen was going to show up to curse at the grave like he had done last year) and then noted the date of birth... this Inoue had died very young - just a few days shy of his seventeenth birthday - Hibari wondered briefly how Inoue had died. Another thing he was curious about was exactly how Yamamoto Takeshi was related to this Inoue.

"I smiled because it always made him so happy." Yamamoto said after a long pause in the conversation.

Hibari tipped his head to the grave. "Him?"

"Yeah." Yamamoto confirmed with a watery smile. "Kazu-nii loved to see me smile. He was always trying to make me happy and smile for him, and I always loved to smile because Kazu-nii would smile when ai did and he had the most gentle, loving smile. It made me feel like everything was right with the world when he smiled. He was the best big brother anyone could have asked for." Yamamoto rubbed hard at his eyes, but as far as Hibari could tell, no tears fell.

"Kazu-nii?" Hibari asked feeling like it was the appropriate thing to do. He was beginning to wish he hadn't been so damned curious about the younger boy - he did not deal well with crying people, at all - he didn't even deal well with people when they weren't crying.

"Yeah, Kazu-nii." Yamamoto said, really smiling sincerely for the first time Hibari had seen - it pleased him for some reason. "He was amazing. Seven years older than me and from Okaa-san's previous relationship - so we were only half siblings. Okaa-san died the day I was born due to complications from childbirth, but Kazu-nii didn't hold it against me or blame me for her death like some people would have done. Kazu-nii doted on me, and basically raised me for the most part 'cause dad was really busy with the restaurant after I was born. He sang me to sleep every night, and it even got to the point that I couldn't go to sleep without hearing that song first."

Yamamoto laughed. "Once when Kazu-nii was visiting his best friend in Italy, Otou-san was trying to put me to sleep but I just wouldn't. He had to call Kazu-nii and get him to sing me the song over the phone - Otou-san said I was out like a light after that. So, when Kazu-nii got back he went to the trouble of singing my lullaby and recording it so I could listen to it even when he wasn't there."

"Hn? That song you always play here?" Hibari asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's Kazu-nii singing my lullaby." Yamamoto went on to talk more about his brother, and Hibari patiently and attentively listened (this Inoue had been a most impressive person, it was a pity Hibari hadn't been able to meet him before he passed on).

"Kazu-nii was the best dancer! He and Squ-nii could just capture a room's attention - and it'd be near impossible to look away. I kind of wish I could dance, I think it would be a nice way to remember nii-san. Plus, since Kazu-nii died, Squ-nii's sworn never to dance again, said ' I'm not dancing with some incompetent fuck, Kazumi was the best there was and dancing with someone else would just be a damned insult to him.' I wish I had someone to take lessons with." Yamamoto said with a sigh.

Hibari looked at the younger boy. Yamamoto had become much more genuinely happy since he had started to speak of his brother. It was interesting. Before he knew it he blurted out.

"I'll be your partner."

The smile Hibari received made him start to believe that he understood why Yamamoto's brother had always tried so hard to get his brother to always smile.

 **75.1**

" VOI! So, let me get this fucking straight. You and this guy who's been watching you visit Kazumi's grave for months are taking dance lessons together." Squalo asked even more loudly than usual. Takeshi had called him and even though Squ-nii had picked up Takeshi could tell he was busy with something if the loud noises in the background was any indication.

" Yep!" Takeshi chirped happily.

"Sometimes I wonder how you and Kazumi are related, and then you go and do crazy shit like this, and remind me."

Takeshi easily ignored that remark. "You'll come to our first recital won't you? And stay for the baseball game I have the day after?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the fucking world."

 **76.1**

"You're stepping on my feet again, Kyoya!"

" Hn. You're leading, so you obviously don't mind that I'm stepping on your toes, or you'd do better."

"Shut up. How's middle school so far?"

"Everyone is pathetic. By the time you're at Namimori Junior High I'll have total control of the school."

"I'd be ashamed to know you if you didn't." Takeshi teased.

 **77.1**

Hibari was seething. He had gone off campus to investigate some rumors, only to hear that Yamamoto Takeshi had pulled a stunt on the roof for 'suicide awareness'.

How ridiculous.

He pulled out his phone and punched in a number.

"VOI! The hell are you calling for stalking scum?!"

Hibari's eyebrow twitched at the word ' skalking', but somehow managed to ignore the desire to strangle the older man on the telephone.

"Takeshi almost jumped off the school roof today. Thought you should know, shark." Hibari said and then hung up.

He was not going to listen to that loud mouth shark yell anymore that he absolutely had to.

 **78.1**

" What the fucking hell were you thinking!" Squalo yelled through the phone.

Not giving Take-chan the chance to answer he continued to rant. " Oh, wait I know. You fucking weren't! Because the is no damned way that you would have even considered goddamn suicide if you had used that brain of yours for one fucking second!"

" How do you think Yamamoto would have taken you dying, huh?! First this wife dies, then his eldest son, and his only remaining family nearly jumps off a fucking roof! Did you even think about what it would have done to him!...What it would have done to me?" Squalo said his voice falling softer in pain.

"I'm sorry Squ-nii." Take-chan said, shame and remorse clear in his voice.

Squalo softened slightly, but said, " Voi! You better be glad I can't leave Italy right now! But promise me that you won't do anything that damned stupid again. Kazumi would come back to haunt me if anything happened to you!"

Take-chan paused for a minute before saying, " Well, when you put it like that I might do something stupid again. Think about it, you would be able to see Kazu-nii again." Take-chan joked.

"VOI! Don't even fucking joke about that! He'd kill me!"

 **79.1**

"Voi! I forfeit." Squalo announced much to the rest of the Varia's fury and to everyone else's surpise.

When Squalo made it over to Xanxus, his boss glared dangerously at him, and then punched Squalo in the face. It drew blood, which Squalo calmly spit out to the side.

"What the hell was that trash." It wasn't a question.

"There is no way in fucking hell am I fighting Kazumi's precious baby brother. Knowing him he'd come back just to murder me."

Xanxus and the rest of the Varia, who were listening in, turned to Take-chan - Squalo saw their evaluating looks.

"Ah~ ! So that's Kazu-kun's brother? How darling~!" Lussuria cooed.

" Mou-, how interesting." Mammon said from their perch on Belphegor's shoulder.

"The Prince wants to know if the shark-whipping-peasant's brother can command Squalo to make dango for the Prince. Shishishi."

"I can't believe you cost the boss the match because of that." Leviathan grunted.

However, Boss's reaction was the most interesting and confusing to Squalo. " That trash ' s brother, huh? I understand. That scum was fucking dangerous."

Dangerous? Kazumi? Squalo wondered how his best friend had left that impression on Xanxus.

He probably didn't want to know.

 **80.1**

Time moved forward (and at some points moved forward and then back and then forward again). Battles were fought and curses were lifted. Years passed and things changed, and yet, some things managed to always stay the same.

 **81.1**

"Everyone, I called this meeting to inform everyone that one of our allied Families is going to be hosting an event and has invited the Vongola Family to attend. I feel that all of us should attend - and yes, Hibari-san and Mukuro, I must insist you come as well." Tsuna announced as everyone was gathered around the large table they used for conferences at Vongola mansion. Reborn towering behind Tsuna as he sat.

" EXTREMELY UNDERSTOOD, SAWADA!" Roared Ryohei.

" Of course, anything for Juudaime."

"How annoying." Complained Mukuro.

" Hn." Hibari scowled.

" Sure, Tsuna-nii."

Takeshi felt as if everyone was waiting to hear him confirm that he was going as well, after all Tsuna hadn't made it sound optional.

" Ugh. Hey, Tsuna, what day is this on exactly?" Takeshi asked.

Tsuna looked at him curiously. "June the ninth. Does that matter? I really need everyone to come, Takeshi."

Takeshi rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly, but his voice came out firm. "Sorry, Tsuna but I can't go. I've got something important that day."

"Oi! What are doing refusing Juudaime's request?! You stupid baseball -" Gokudera yelled, but was cut off when Hibari thew a tonfa at his head.

Tsuna sighed and shook his head before turning back to Takeshi. "I know you usually take off that day every year, but can't you just not go this year, or go a week later?"

Takeshi's face was unusually serious as he answered, "No, Tsuna I can't. I'm sorry."

* * *

"Hn." Hibari greeted as he entered Takeshi's room.

"Hey, Kyoya. What happened after I walked out of the meeting?" Takeshi asked.

"Hn. Yelling, conspiracy theories about what you were hiding and why you refused to come, and an agreement for everyone to skip the event - send the Varia to represent the Vongola instead, and to follow you to see what you are going to be up to on the ninth of June." Hibari reported as he laid down on Takeshi's bed.

"Wow, that's possibly the most I've ever hear you say at one time." Takeshi commented to which Hibari growled.

Takeshi laughed. "But they're going to follow me? Really?"

" Idiots."

"They aren't." Takeshi defended, Hibari just shrugged. "But I can't understand why they don't asked me if they want to know."

" These are the people that haven't figured out we're dating, and have been for years. They're idiots."

 **82.1**

Tsuna was beginning to wish he had vetoed following Takeshi or at least have chosen not to participate like Hibari and Mukuro had. They had taken a private Vongola plane to Japan first, as they had dug up where Takeshi had bought a ticket to Japan. They followed him to Namimori, which was really to be as expected, considering Yamamoto-san still lived in Namimori. However, if Takeshi was just visiting his father then there was no reason for him to have been adamant that it had to be on the ninth.

They all watched from a distance as Yamamoto-san stepped out of Takesushi with a large picnic basket and an even larger metal case witch the older man quickly handed over to Takeshi. And they carefully followed them - so that they wouldn't be caught - to Namimori Cemetery.

They all glanced around at each other, not having ecpected to end up at a cemetery. However, they had already come this far so they followed the Yamamotos inside.

They were very surprised to see Takeshi and his father greet Squalo, who was already sitting in front of a grave.

Yamamoto-san started setting up a blanket and preparing to set out the what was in the picnic basket he had brought, while Takeshi and Squalo were putting together a portable screen and projector. Luckily, the way they had placed the screen allowed them to see what was being watched.

Video after video all focused in on a single person. And the group watched as the years progressed on film, watching the boy grow into a teen on the screen. They watched as the boy danced with a white haired child, who had to have been the Varia's Rain Guardian, and watched as that same dark haired child played catch with who was obviously a younger Takeshi.

Later videos showed the same dark haired person looking ill with Squalo carrying him around. And at the end of the videos a song came on, the words were in English, but they could tell it was the person in the videos' singing.

They had been so absorbed in watching and listening, that they were surprised and a little horrified to look up and notice that Squalo Superbi was crying.

Tsuna really wished they hasn't followed Takeshi and witnessed this horribly private moment.

* * *

"Ah, Squalo-kun. You tear up every time we visit Kazumi, what would he say if he knew you still cried over his grave?" Yamamoto-san teased, though he was sniffling too.

" VOI ! Shut the hell up, old man." Squalo yelled.

Take-chan laughed, his eyes and smile sad as it always was on Kazumi's birthday. " You really loved him, didn't you, Squ-nii?"

"Damn right I did, and that bastard probably knew long before I did."

Take-chan smiled and nodded.

Kazumi had truly been one of a kind.

 **Please tell me what you think.**


	4. Part 3

**AN: To everyone who said they cried while reading part 2.1 - just letting you know I cried while writing it. Sorry for the wait. I'm not that happy with this chapter, and I'll let you know right now that, eventually, there will be a part 4- probably not any time soon though. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors. Enjoy.**

 **Part 3:**

 **95** **.**

Kazumi was amused when Take-chan had begun getting up early (even on mornings when he didn't have baseball practice) to meet with Sawada Tsunayoshi to walk to school with his new friend. However, he was more than a little concerned when his brother started coming home telling about this 'Mafia Game' that he was playing with 'Tsuna' and 'Gokudera' (who was apparently a transfer student from Italy who liked to play with 'fireworks' -honestly Kazumi loved his brother but was more than a little worried about his sheer oblivious nature when it came to reality).

After Hibari-kun reported to him that the 'fireworks' were truly what Kazumi believed them to be (dynamite), Kazumi was more than ready to acquaint himself with his brother's new friends.

(He had no compunctions about making them disappear, even if one of the ones that might possibly vanish was responsible for saving Take-chan).

His opportunity arose rather quickly.

 **96.**

Kazumi had just finished up a large order of unagi sashimi that was to delivered later on that evening. Currently, the restaurant was in a mid-afternoon lull, and it would be another hour or so before the dinner time rush would set in. As it was, there were very few customers in Takesushi at the moment.

Kazumi was about to inform Yamamoto-san that he was going to head upstairs to work on some of his translation work - for the publishing house he worked for part-time. Before he could, his phone lit up with a text from Take-chan. After reading and replying that he would be over in a few minutes, Kazumi told Yamamoto-san that hew was going to meet up with Take-chan and some of his friends to help with some homework.

Yamamoto-san smiled, and told him to be careful and to call him if he needed something (something that Yamamoto-san had never done prior to the revelation about Kazumi's health). So, Kazumi departed, looking forward to meeting Take-chan's new friends.

* * *

Takeshi was over at Tsuna's house with Tsuna, of course, and Gokudera, and some girl named Haru -who had shown up from nowhere. Anyway, they were working on a problem for their math homework, and while he had completed the rest, he had no clue on how to do this particular problem. So, they were waiting on Haru to figure it out. It had been roughly an hour and a half since Haru had started to work on the problem, and Takeshi could tell she was really struggling with it, so he decided to text Kazu-nii to see if he would come over to help.

Sure enough, Kazu-nii replied swiftly that he would. But before Kazu-nii arrived Gokudera's older sister Bianchi ( and wasn't that awesome that both he and Gokudera had older half siblings!? he should really mention that to him), had been called in by Haru.

Ha! For some reason, and it was really funny - even though it kind of wasn't, Gokudera passed out when he saw his sister like he normally did. And rather than helping, Bianchi ripped up a copy (that Takeshi was fairly certain was Tsuna's) of the homework, which really wasn't good.

Then the doorbell rang.

Brightening ( which most people wouldn't think possible) Takeshi jumped up.

"I'll get it!" Takeshi announced, smiling.

"O-oh, please let it not be another troublesome person!" Tsuna said loudly, almost begging, clutching his hair.

"Oi! Who dares come to Juudaime's home uninvited!?" Gokudera yelled, still looking fairly sick - probably due to Bianchi still being in the room.

"Don't worry!" Takeshi laughed, as he was walking out of Tsuna's room. "I called someone who might be able to help."

* * *

Kazumi arrived at the the address Take-chan had text him. It was a quaint house, two story with a tree so close to one of the upper windows on the second floor that it wouldn't take a ninja to break into the house (it was just properly located enough to be a excellent point of entry to anyone looking to break in, it would be child's play to just -

Kazumi sighed. He really needed to stop thinking like a ninja. Ninja were obsolete in this world, and unless he wanted to join the mafia (and he most certainly did not, thank you very much) there was no point in that way of thinking.

He rang the doorbell and patiently waited. Soon enough he heard the sound of feet quickly approaching from the other side of the door, which opened to reveal his grinning baby brother.

"Kazu-nii!" Take-chan exclaimed excitedly. "Thanks for coming. We're really stuck on this one problem."

"Hn. One?" He questioned lightly, ruffling his brother's hair as he passed him in the entryway.

"Just one. Sorry for calling you all this way for only one problem, but it's really difficult!" Take-chan explained as they made their way up the stairs side-by-side.

"It's hardly a problem. You are my favorite little brother after all." Kazumi teased, causing his brother to huff playfully.

"Haha! Like I have any competition in that!" Take-chan said, not aware that that statement wasn't wholly true, but it was close enough, given the circumstances. But in this circumstance, he thought that he had learned how to be a much better big brother to Take-chan than he had been with Sasuke.

Take-chan let him to a bedroom that was quite ...chaotic. A boy with light brown, fluffy hair, was pulling at his hair with his hands, while his face was firmly planted on the table. A boy with silver hair, who's skin had a green ting at the moment was yelling at a young woman -about his age (so twenty or twenty-one) with pink hair. The one with pink hair was speaking to a girl with dark hair, that was tied up in a pony tail. A child with an afro and a cow print onesie was crying in the corner. And finally there was a baby sleeping in a hammock on one side of the room, blowing a bubble with his nose (Kazumi caught that the baby - who gave off the same aura as Mammon - was more than he appeared to be, and wasn't actually asleep).

Kazumi nodded at Take-chan who had taken the quick moment Kazumi had surveyed the room to retrieve his copy of the homework and brought it to him. Kazumi took the paper and glanced at the only blank problem on the page (he wasn't even sure anyone else besides Take-chan and the baby who was pretending to be asleep were aware he was even there).

"The answer is four, Take-chan. Do you need me to explain it?" Kazumi asked, wondering why Take-chan's math teacher had assigned him a rather difficult college level math question.

" Sure Kazu-nii." Take-chan responded grabbing Kazumi's hand to drag him over to the table in the room, that was surrounded by people who wete giving him odd and surprised looks (he imagined the surprise was due to the fact that none of them noticed his presence unail now.)

"Hn." Kazumi knelt in seiza and calmly explained the math problem that the middle school students should never actually see again until they went to university (even as the silver hair boy beGan yelling at Kazumi to explain his presence "in the Juudaime's house".)

"Ah, it's fine Gokudera -" Take-chan began to explain, only to be rudely interrupted by the silver haired one Kazumi now knew was Gokudera.

" I wasn't talking to you - you damn baseball-freak!"

The atmosphere in the room plummeted.

Kazumi turned to Gokudera, and smiled sweetly, from beside him he heard Take-chan gulp loudly. "Excuse me? I must have misheard you, what did you just call Take-chan?"

"Hieee-! T-take-chan?" The brunette, who Kazumi supposed was Sawada Tsunayoshi, looked awfully confused and worried as he looked between Kazumi, Take-chan, and Gokudera.

(Kazumi noted that the baby (who Kazumi was certain was no mere child) had stopped feigning sleep and was actively watching the scene).

The silver haired boy looked unconcerned as he responded. "The baseball-freak is the baseball -" Take-chan had jumped up, slung his arm around Gokudera's shoulder, and slapped a hand across the other boy's mouth - effectively cutting off Gokudera from finishing that sentence. The boy struggled trying to get away from his brother's grip - to no avail.

"Maa, maa! It's just a nickname. Gokudera has this funny habit of giving people rude nicknames! That's all. No need to get mad about it." Take-chan explained quickly, smiling but looking worried at the same time.

Kazumi cocked his head sideways as he looked at his brother's strained smile. He most certainly did not want to upset his little brother, and if his brother was tolerant of this Gokudera's insulting 'nickname' and didn't want Kazumi to get angry about it (Take-chan, after all had seen Kazumi angry at Squalo for all the times he had slipped up and called Take-chan a 'brat' - so his brother was well aware that he was scary when he was angry) then Kazumi supposed he could overlook it for Take-chan's sake.

"Hn. If you say so." The atmosphere in the room returned to normal and Kazumi turned his attention to the boy with the fluffy hair.

"You are Sawada Tsunayoshi, correct?"

"Ah! Yes, I am." Sawada said nodding, nervously (Kazumi was vaguely reminded of Squalo's Mafia Academy roommate, Dino Cavallone).

From his seiza position, Kazumi bowed deeply in Sawada's direction (making the boy squeak- yes, he was most certainly reminiscent of Cavallone - how on earth was this the boy responsible for getting Take-chan involved in a "Mafia game"). "On behalf of Takeshi's father and myself, I would like to extend my most sincere thanks for saving Takeshi. The next time you visit Takesushi it will be my treat."

Sawada was violently shaking his hands and his head. "No need, no need! It was nothing -"

Kazumi glared at the boy, lightly enough to just get him quiet. "I would appreciate if you did not refer to Take-chan's life as 'nothing', Sawada-kun. I assure you it is very precious to me."

Sawada looked stunned. Gokudera, who had at some point been released from Take-chan's hold on him yelled, "Oi! Don't speak to Juudaime like that, bastard!"

Take-chan was blushing, while grinning happily, and scratching the back of his head.

"I'm Reborn, Dame- Tsuna's home tutor. Let me apologize for my student's insensitivity." Said the baby-who-was-not-a-baby, who was named Reborn. "He did not mean to belittle Takeshi's life. Let me accept your kind gratitude on his behalf."

Kazumi nodded his acceptance.

Reborn turned to Take-chan. "Takeshi, please introduce us."

"Ah!"Take-chan exclaimed. Kazumi's brother then beamed, as he proudly introduced Kazumi to his friends. "Guys let me introduce you. This is Kazu-nii, he's my older brother!"

All of Takeshi's friend's quickly introduced themselves. Kazumi noticed when this was happening that Reborn was giving him a speculating look -which he noted, but decided to ignore. If anything came from it later he would deal with it then.

Not long after Kazumi left - it was about time for the dinner rush to start at Takesushi and Kazumi needed to be there to assist Yamamoto-san. So he said good-bye and ruffled Take-chan's hair while telling him to not be too late, and departed.

* * *

"Ahh, Yamamoto, I didn't know you had an older brother." Tsuna commented to Takeshi as soon as his brother left. "I've never seen him around town before."

"Yeah, that's not surprising, Tsuna, Kazu-nii is seven years older than us." Takeshi said laughing. And because Takeshi was so proud of Kazu-nii he couldn't help talking more about him now that they were on the subject.

"Kazu-nii and I aren't full-blooded siblings. We have the same Okaa-san, but Kazu-nii was born from a previous relationship Okaa-san was in. Isn't it awesome, Gokudera? We both have older half siblings! Haha, anyway, Kazu-nii is super smart. Which is probably another reason you've never met him before. Kazu-nii was home schooled for years until he was ten, and then when he was tested to see what grade level he was in, he was automatically ready for college. He went to Kyoto Daigaku and graduated at fourteen!" Takeshi informed his friends proudly.

"Wow!" Tsuna exclaimed, eyes wide. "That's amazing. He's got to be really smart." Haru and Lambo nodded along to his words.

Gokudera looked impressed as well, but snorted. "He must be disappointed to have such a baseball-idiot for a brother then." He said scathingly.

"You'd think, right?" Takeshi nodded in agreement. "Kazu-nii's awesome about it though. He says that we're two different people, who have different strengths, weaknesses, and passions. He told me that it's great that I have baseball to be so passionate about and if that's what I want to pursue in life then there is no problem with focusing most of my time on baseball, because I love it and he wants me to be happy."

Tsuna nearly had tears in his eyes. "You have such an amazing brother!" And even Gokudera looked hard pressed to say anything mean.

"I know." Takeshi agreed, smiling. Kazu-nii was the absolute best.

* * *

That night Reborn was contemplating Takeshi's brother and whether or not he should try to acquire him as a guardian or not. On one hand Hibari Kyoya was already a powerful cloud, and he wouldn't run into the issue of having siblings as guardians, who might care more about their sibling than their sky. But on the other hand, Reborn could already tell that Takeshi's 'Kazu-nii' was already an extremely powerful cloud, who was already flame active -whether he was aware of it or not.

Ah, decisions, decisions. He resolved to do more research on 'Kazu-nii' (Takeshi hadn't actually introduced his brother by his actual name), before reaching a decision.

As he was thinking, Bianchi arrived by his side and sat down.

"Reborn." She started simply. "Please know that I love you. However, I've found someone who is closer to my physical age. I beg your forgiveness, but I think I must move my affections to 'Kazu', but please know I will always love you, Reborn."

Well then. "I understand Bianchi, I wish you luck in your pursuit."

Bianchi wiped a tear from her eye. "I truly appreciate your blessing, Reborn."

(In Italy, more specifically Varia Castle, Squalo Superbi got the strangest urge to fly to Japan immediately and kill someone.)

 **97.**

About four days after Takeshi had called Kazu-nii over to Tsuna's to help with the math homework, Takeshi was headed home after baseball practice. He was walking by Tsuna's place when he saw a familiar figure walking just beside Tsuna's house, so he called out to greet them.

"Hey! Dr. Shamal, what are you doing here?" Takeshi called, causing the man to turn in his direction. At first it was clear that Dr. Shamal wasn't sure who he was, but soon enough recognition flashed in the doctor's eyes.

"Ah. You're Inoue's kid brother, right? I'm was treating a patient, got the shitty job of treating a male. Again." The older man almost pouted, causing Takeshi to laugh. This doctor was so weird, but Takeshi was so thankful that he had been able to help save Kazu-nii. He didn't know what would he would have done if his brother hadn't been able to pull through.

"I bet the person you treated was really grateful, Dr. Shamal, no matter how much you complained about treating them." Takeshi commented as they walked down the street. Remembering, clearly, how vocally the man had expressed his distaste at treating men, and how badly the man had bothered the nurses in the hospital.

"Right." Dr. Shamal scoffed. "All the pathetic brat did was whine and yell at me. No appreciation at all. Well they did say thank you however the whining and yelling outweighed the gratitude considerably."

"Well, you can't win 'em all doc. But, speaking of appreciation, if you want, you can follow me to our restaurant, and eat dinner there on the house. I'm sure Otou-san and Kazu-nii would want to show their gratitude while you're in town. Interested?" Takeshi offered.

"Ha! You know your brother doesn't like me at all, kid." However, Takeshi could tell he was thinking about the offer.

Takeshi shrugged, no denying the truth after all. "Yeah, but even so, you did help him, and he and Otou-san would be appalled if I hadn't offered."

"I'll take you up on that offer, kid, I could go for some sushi. And who says no to a free meal? Lead the way."

 **98.**

Shamal, just as the kid had said, was welcomed to Takesushi with a seat right at the counter and a free meal, courtesy of the grateful father. Inoue was the one to prepare his food as Yamoto-san went to grab him some of the 'good sake'. The restaurant, Shamal could tell, was a popular on, but business was slow at the moment because it wasn't quite dinner time yet.

Shamal watched his former patient as he made quick motions with his knife and at some moments quick, practiced movements as he prepared the sashimi and sushi. Yeah, he still didn't see the resemblance between the young man and the DNA results Shamal had tried to forget...

"So, Inoue, how has your health been?" Shamal asked only because he felt like he had to.

"Hn. Fine." Inoue said, continuing his work.

Yamamoto-san, who had returned and poured Shamal some sake, scoffed. " Yeah, he's fine alright. Passed out just last month from lack of oxygen, had to make sure he didn't drown in his own blood."

Shamal nodded. It was difficult to treat patients who never wanted to admit that anything was wrong -always insisting they were 'fine'. "Well, Yamamoto-san, that is the symptoms I mentioned. There is no way to make them go away completely, I'm afraid. I did warn you that I couldn't promise that he wouldn't die by choking on his own blood if he isn't careful."

"That you did, doctor." Yamamoto-san nodded.

Shamal saw Inoue roll his eyes as he sat the platter of food in front of Shamal. " Itadakimasu." Shamal took a bite, and damn if it didn't make him glad that he had treated Inoue, even if he was male. The guy could certainly cook!

 **99.**

"What the hell! Why'd that freak beat Juudaime and I up and you got away untouched! Huh, baseball idiot?" Gokudera asked angrily.

Takeshi laughed awkwardly, feeling a bit bad that Tsuna and Gokudera had gotten beaten up by Hibari-kun and he hadn't. Not that he wanted to get bitten to death by Hibari, but it still felt odd that he hadn't been touched and the others had been hurt - not badly, however, Hibari-kun wasn't known to pull his punches.

"Yeah." Takeshi started uncomfortably, "Kazu-nii and Hibari-kun are good friends, so we've been thrown together a couple of times. He's been coming to watch my baseball games with my brother for a few years, too, so..." Takeshi trailed off with a shrug. He and Hibari certainly weren't that close, but he was a lot closer to the prefect than most people could claim to be.

Tsuna gave him a look crossed between horror and amazement. "You're friends with Hibari-san?"

Did he consider Hibari a friend? "Yep." Takeshi said.

"Then why didn't you call that bastard off, baseball idiot!?" Goudera yelled.

Takeshi rolled his eyes, smiling. "I'm sorry that he hurt you guys, but Hibari-kun isn't really someone you tell what to do. The only person I've ever seen him listen to is Kazu-nii."

"A-ah. Is that so?" Tsuna asked looking a little freaked out.

Gokudera huffed angrily. "Get your brother to do something about him then. No one should treat Juudaime like that!"

Takeshi sweat-dropped. Kazu-nii wasn't the type of person you told what to do either (though he generally would do anything Takeshi asked for, but he was the exception).

* * *

" _What the fuck! That piece of trash did what!? And you let the fucker live? You won't even let me call Take-chan a ' brat '! What the ever-loving fuck, Kazumi !_ " Squalo yelled through the phone.

"Hn."

" _Voi! Don't you fucking 'Hn' me! You go fucking orbital when anyone so much as says something rude to Take-chan! I'm still not sure what you did to the bitch that pushed Take-chan off the roof and called it a suicide attempt! And I'm in the fucking Varia with that thrash Mammon, who knows just about damn near everything that's going on! So what the hell!?"_

Kazumi vaguely wondered if this conversation would be happening if Squalo was aware that Take-chan didn't want Kazumi to get mad about the horribly rude 'nickname' that Gokudera called Take-chan. (If it wasn't specifically Take-chan's request for him to drop it, then Gokudera would be in a world of pain by now - especially with the frequency that Kazumi heard that atrocious named directed at his brother).

"Take-chan asked me not to." Kazumi explained, as if that was all that was needed to be said on the subject.

" _Well, shit. Fuck it! I can believe he did that, but I'm fucking surprised you've actually let it go."_

"What kind of brother would I be if I ignored a request from my baby brother?" Kazumi asked, rhetorically. He was not pleased with the situation, but Take-chan had spoke, and Kazumi had already promised.

" _VOI! Damn, Kazumi you're getting soft in your old age!"_ Squalo whistled through the phone. " _OI! Hey! I know your poking me in the fucking forehead mentally right now! How many fucking times do I have to tell you to stop doing that!?"_

Kazumi rolled his eyes, wondering when Squalo had become so intuitive as to know when he was indeed mentally tapping his fingers on Squalo's forehead. He absently rubbed Shisui's head, the bird was perched on his leg and demanding his attention. "We're the same age, Squalo." Kazumi pointed out, the fond unsaid 'you idiot' implied. "And you're wrong. I wasn't poking you on the forehead, I was mentally kissing you on the forehead."

There was some indecipherable sputtering noises on the other side of the line, and the few words Kazumi could make out were curses. It was so fun to tease his best friend turned boyfriend, even after all these years of dating, Kazumi thought smiling as he patiently waited for Squalo to get himself under control.

" _Get your fucking ass on a plane to Italy, Kazumi! VOI!"_ Squalo finally got out.

" ' _So damned demanding_ ', Squalo. I can't. Remember? You said that the Varia was going to be rather chaotic in the next couple of months or so, and it wouldn't be possible for me to visit you or you to visit me." Kazumi reminded, teasingly, knowing _exactly_ why Squalo wanted him to visit. It was truly a pity he couldn't, but it was fun to tease Squalo nonetheless.

" _Fuck."_ Squalo complained, groaning.

"Maybe later." Kazumi replied cheerfully, purposely misinterpreting the one word complaint.

" _Damn you, Kazumi!"_

 _"_ Love you too, Squalo."

There were more indecipherable noises on the other end of the line.

 **100.**

Kazumi arrived at Namimori Junior High with a cooler full of food and a video camera. It was the day of Namimori Junior Hight's athletic festival and, of course, Kazumi was going to attend to cheer Take-chan on and, of course, record it for his mother's collection - that the family had been faithfully adding pictures and videos to since her passing. Plus, he had to send a video to Squalo and the rest of the Varia.

He was found by Reborn as he was laying down a picnic blanket on the ground and asked if he minded some others coming to sit with him. His response: "As long as they are friend's of Take-chan."

Soon enough Haru, Lambo, Bianchi, and Sawada-kun's mother Nana-san, were beside him on the ground watching the various events. They were all rather loud (well they would have been considered loud by most people's standards, but Kazumi had grown up with Squalo so...), but Kazumi rather enjoyed the presence of others as he watched his brother win in all of the individual events he participated in. His only real complaint was that for some reason Bianchi kept trying to get his attention, constantly asking him questions, and sometimes getting in front of his video camera and disrupting his view. He hadn't realized she had such a friendly personality - the first time he had met her she had been almost completely silent.

Anyway, the day progressed and it somehow ended up that it was his brother's team against the other two teams, with Hibari-kun in command.

In the end Take-chan's team lost and the entire school yard somehow became a large brawling arena. He had a feeling the Varia were going to be very amused when they watched this video.

* * *

"Voi! That fucking bitch! Who the hell does she think she is!? She's fucking flirting with Kazumi! Dammit!" Squalo screeched as he and Mammon, Lussuria, and Belphagor watched the video Kazumi had sent them of Take-chan's athletic festival.

"Shishishi! The shark has competition for the shark-whipping-peasant. The Prince is amused." Belphagor said, dodging a swipe from Squalo's sword.

"Mou~. I'll find all the information you need on her. For a price, of course." Mammon offered from Belphagor's head.

"Ah~~.This is not darling~ at all~!" Lussuria exclaimed. "She can't take Kazu-kun~ away from Squa~lo~ they wouldn't look good together at all~" Lussuria moaned from the couch. Lussuria did not want the couple he was so shipping to get split up by this pink haired woman.

"It's pathetic how jealous you are." Was Leviathan's only comment, he hadn't wanted to watch the damn video at all, but now he was glad curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Shishishi. The Prince agrees with Levi, for once. The shark is jealous and the shark-whipping-peasant was oblivious to the woman's intentions!"

"VOI! I'm going to slice all of you into fucking ribbons, and then track that bitch down and run my sword through her head!" Squalo yelled, attacking Belphagor who was defending himself with his knives.

"Mou. Do you think he's forgotten that we're going to rescue the boss soon, and that he can't kill us yet?" Mammon asked Bel.

"Shishishi, the Prince does not doubt it. The shark is rather stupid - when it comes to the shark-whipping-peasant."

And that about summed it up.

 **101.**

"Hey, Yamamoto." Bianchi called out to Takeshi as he was about to leave Tsuna's house.

"Yeah, Bianchi-san?" Takeshi asked, wondering what she needed from him.

"What is your brother's favorite food?"

Well, that's random. "Dango?" He said, more of a question than it should be.

"Oh~ a man with a sweet tooth, how wonderful." She commented before walking off to the kitchen, leaving Takeshi to wonder what that was all about.

* * *

"Hey, Squ-nii. What's up?" Takeshi asked that night when he received a call from Squ-nii. Which was pretty normal considering they spoke at least once every two weeks.

" _VOI!"_ Takeshi had to pull the phone away from his ear. " _Is Kazumi cheating on me with some pink haired woman!?"_

Takeshi looked at the phone in disbelief. What the -? Why on earth would Squ-nii even ask that? Kazu-nii and Squ-nii had been dating for five years now and, really, they basically dating for years before that, they were so close. What had caused Squ-nii to think Kazu-nii was cheating on him and with a pink ...haired...woman. Bianchi? Why would he think Kazu-nii was cheating on him with her of all people. As far as Takeshi was aware they had only met twice, and after the second time, Kazu-nii had only commented that she kept getting in the way of his video camera... Maybe she had been flirting with Kazu-nii and he hadn't realized it?

"Um... Squ-nii are you talking about how Bianchi-san kept getting in the video camera's view during the athletic festival? Because, while she might have been flirting with Kazu-nii, I don't think he actually realized that was what she was doing. His only comment about it was that he found it rather annoying that she kept getting in the way." Takeshi sighed when there was nothing but silence on the other end of the line. "Kazu-nii would never cheat on you, Squ-nii. Honestly, you two have been dating for five years already, and have been best friends since you two were four. Do you really think Kazu-nii would dare give that up for some woman he just met. Really, Squ-nii?"

" _Fuck! No, he wouldn't. I'm just being a fucking idiot. Forget this conversation ever happened, ya hear me!"_ Squ-nii said relived.

"Sure." Takeshi agreed. "But Bianchi-san liking Kazu-nii does explain why she asked me what his favorite food was today. Makes sense in retrospect." Takeshi mused. "Right, Squ-nii? Squ-nii? Oh, the line's off, the connection must have broken off, oh well, I'll talk to him later."

* * *

"VOI! Let me the fuck go! I've got to go to fucking Japan to murder a bitch!" Squalo yelled as he was held back from leaving Varia Castle by Belphagor and Lussuria, with Mammon watching off to the side- a crushed cell phone in his non-sword hand.

"Shishishi, not now shark. The Prince will join you later for the bloodbath, but you are required here for now."

"Oh~ Bel-chan's right Squalo~! You can't leave now, not when it's so close to time~ to get boss~ back!"

"Mou~ calm down, Squalo, I'll make sure to get all the blackmail I can on her. I would hate to lose my favorite sushi chef, after all. Stay put for now though."

"VOI! You fuckers don't fucking get it! That bitch is going to seduce Kazumi with dango, dammit! Let me fucking go!"

* * *

That night at the Yamamoto-Inoue residence a box of dango was delivered. It was promptly thrown away due to the suspicious fumes radiating from them. Tsuyoshi for a moment even thought that Kazumi had attempted to make dango again, but that thought was quickly banished. Kazumi hated to waste dango ingredients on attempts he knew would be futile.

Who knew where that strange delivery came from.

 **102.**

Tsuna was never more relieved in his life to see Yamamoto's older brother walk into the room. Reborn had brought Tsuna, Lambo, and Bianchi to a nice sushi restaurant called Takesushi, and then ran out leaving him with a ridiculous bill! When Yamamoto had come home and told Yamamoto-san that they were friends, the older man graciously allowed the bill to be taken care of, that was until Reborn, Lambo, and Bianchi ate the most expensive food in the restaurant.

Then Yamamoto's brother, who Tsuna thought was named Inoue Kazumi (it was kind of hard to catch his name when Yamamoto only ever referred to him as 'Kazu-nii'), walked down the stairs and into the mess.

"Ah! Kazu-nii did you rest well?" Takeshi asked, as his older brother walked in.

"Hn. Yes, I did." Inoue-san smiled softly and tapped Yamamoto on the forehead as he passed him by. He came to a stop beside Yamamoto-san and in front of Tsuna.

"Kazumi." Yamamoto-san greeted. "I hope we didn't wake you with the yelling down here." He said, with what Tsuna could tell was concern.

Inoue-san waved Yamamoto-san's concern away. "I needed to wake up anyway. " Here Yamamoto-san looked like he was about to protest. "What is the problem here?"

"This young man is a friend of Takeshi's, but he doesn't have the money to pay the bill for what his young friends have eaten." Yamamoto-san explained.

Inoue-san nodded in understanding. "Hn. Looks like today is the day I get to keep my word. I'll pay for Sawada-san's bill, as my thanks for saving Take-chan. However, if those children come back and eat more, I will hold them accountable for what is due. Wouldn't you agree Yamamoto-san? After all, children must learn that there are consequences to their actions sometime."

Yamamoto-san nodded his head at Inoue-san's words and Tsuna was nearly in tears from the gratitude he felt towards Inoue-san.

"Oh. Such a gentleman!" Bianchi cooed. When had she even come back?

"Yes, dame-Tsuna should learn from his example. A Mafia Boss always keeps his word and pays his debts." Reborn commented looking at Inoue-san.

Seriously, had they come back once they heard they had been cleared of the debt?, Tsuna wondered frantically. What the hell!

 **103.**

"Hey, Kazu-nii? Could you prepare a platter for a birthday party for tomorrow?" Take-chan asked him one evening at dinner.

"Hn." Kazumi nodded. "Who's birthday?"

"That kid Reborn's. We're throwing him a party at Tsuna's."

"I'll drop it off at his house after your school get's out tomorrow then."

"Thanks Kazu-nii! You're the best!"

* * *

"This sushi is amazing, Yamamoto!" Tsuna said. "Thank you so much!"

Lambo was chanting, "Feast- feast!"

Takeshi rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "No problem guys."

"Takeshi, this is even better than the food I had the last time I was at Takesushi." Reborn commented, with Bianchi nodding her head along in agreement.

"Ah, I don't know about better, but Kazu-nii is the one who prepared the food for today." Takeshi stated. "So, that might have something to do with that."

"Oh. Kazumi can cook as well, what a catch." Bianchi said, digging in even more enthusiastically.

"Hahi! It'll be a lucky girl who ends up with your brother." Haru commented.

Even Nana-san said, "Every woman loves a man who can cook!" Which was an odd statement, or so Takeshi thought, considering Nana-san cooked a lot and he had never even seen her husband, much less seen him cook anything.

Takeshi laughed. His brother certainly was awesome, but... "Yeah, Kazu-nii is the best. Too bad for every girl out there -"

"What? What's too bad?" Bianchi questioned intently.

"Kazu-nii already has a boyfriend, who he's been dating for five years."

Bianchi seemed really unhappy after hearing that. She must have really had a crush on Kazu-nii.

 **104.**

Kazumi was blatantly glaring. "So, let me see if I've gotten this right. Tsuna's having a guest over named Dino Cavallone and he told you that Tsuna had been kidnapped by a local yakuza group - it was supposed to be a made up group but it was an actual yakuza group, and you and Gokudera-kun went in to save him. Then he got Tsuna hospitalized, and now you want to go with Sawada, Cavallone, Gokudera, and Reborn on a trip to the mountains. It that all true?" And how had this all happened when he was away for a few days in Tokyo to meet with his supervisor at the publishing company he translated for?

Take-chan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, when you put it like that it sounds awful, but yeah, that's right Kazu-nii. I asked Otou-san and he already said I could go."

Well, Kazumi really couldn't argue with that if Yamamoto-san had already given Take-chan permission to go, but he most certainly was not pleased. "Be careful, Take-chan. I love you." He said giving Take-chan a hug, tapping their foreheads together.

Take-chan grinned and squeezed Kazumi tight. "Love you, too, Kazu-nii."

* * *

Kazumi refrained from commenting when a search and rescue team were the ones to bring Takeshi home from his mountain trip. Though, he was contemplating telling Squalo about the incident and suggesting that he have a reunion with his old Mafia Academy roommate - that or kill Dino himself and make it look like an accident, either would be an acceptable option. And not to mention, he was going to plant a tracking device on his brother.

That night Kazumi sang Take-chan's lullaby personally, before kissing his sleeping brother on the forehead.

 **105.**

When Kazumi asked Yamamoto-san how parent's day had gone. The response he received was, "Explosive."

 **106.**

It was the final straw when Take-chan came home the day that school was closed for it's anniversary. Take-chan had left that morning with Reborn and Sawada-san and mentioned something about baseball training. What Take-chan reported had happened was most definitely not baseball training.

Kazumi believed that it was time for a long over due chat with Reborn.

* * *

That evening Kazumi made the trip to the Sawada residence, and asked Reborn to take a walk with him.

"So, what would you like to discuss, Inoue-san?" Reborn asked, looking curiously at the crow perched on Takeshi's brother's shoulder.

Kazumi looked directly into the eyes of Reborn and instantly activated his sharingan, causing Reborn to stiffen and pull a gun, but it was too late. Reborn was already trapped in Kazumi's tsukuyomi. Time had come to a halt and the world around them transformed to a fiery and dark landscape. Kazumi made it appear as if he were everywhere at one, increasing the tension his victim felt.

"I would like to discuss, Reborn, the danger you are constantly putting my most precious brother into."

Reborn was frozen, eyes wide, unable to tell where Kazumi's voice was coming from. Completely helpless in Kazumi's genjutsu.

"I do not appreciate my brother coming home injured, telling me he's been shot at by 'fake bullets' to improve in baseball." Kazumi scoffed. "I know you're trying to train him to join the Mafia, Reborn-"

In a flash, Kazumi was right in front of Reborn, eye's level with the 'child's', and Kazumi's cool finger's gripping Reborn's chin, forcing direct eye contact inside of the tsukuyomi.

" - I most certainly do not approve. My brother is naive, but I assure you he is far from stupid, or oblivious. If he consciously and purposefully chooses to join the Mafia, then I'll respect his decision, for all I have ever wanted is my brother to be happy. But, until he makes that decision, and until you tell him what's actually going on - Know this, if anything should happen to my precious brother under your care or manipulations, I will kill you slowly and painfully."

Kazumi relinquished the tsukuyomi, after he forced the hitman to be tortured for a few minutes (if only mentally), and smiled down at Reborn who was now pointing a gun at his head -eyes narrowed in suspicion and a little hint of fear.

"Have I made myself perfectly clear, Reborn?" Kazumi asked sweetly.

Reborn slowly nodded his head, having yet to lower the gun.

"Perfect. Let me walk you home. Children need to be home at this time of night, after all." Kazumi turned to walk back to the Sawada residence.

BANG!

Kazumi caught the bullet with a chakra coated hand, and then tossed it to the side.

"Now that wasn't nice, Reborn. But I'll forget about that, as long as you don't forget what I've said to about Take-chan."

* * *

After that interaction with Inoue-san, Reborn instantly began researching into Inoue Kazumi's background, he had put it of as not important for long enough when he had decided to go after Hibari as Tsuna's cloud guardian. A decision he was regretting at the moment. Honestly, there wasn't much for him to find.

Like Takeshi had said, Inoue-san had been home schooled until he was ten, and that's when he entered Kyoto Daigaku. He graduated four years later with a Bachelors in graphic design, and a minor in botany. He was a licensed sushi chef, was fluent in over five languages, worked at Takesushi and a publishing house out of Tokyo part time. Everyone said he was a polite and mature young man.

Digging around some more, Reborn discovered that Inoue-san had been born to a Inoue Tomoko (and for some reason that name sounded vaguely familiar) in Japan. The mother and son had, four years later, moved to Italy and had stayed their until Inoue Tomoko married Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, shortly after Inoue-san's seventh birthday, and shortly thereafter moved to Namimori, Japan.

Reborn also found documents detailing Inoue-san being hospitalized around five years ago, when he was sixteen, with a illness that the doctor's at Namimori General Hospital had declared terminal and even the symptom were not treatable. Another doctor, from Italy, had been brought in by the family, to great success. The doctor's name was ...Trident Shamal.

(However, he had yet to find out who exactly Inoue-san's boyfriend was that Takeshi had mentioned.)

 **107.**

"Shamal."

" _What do you want?_ "

"Five years ago you treated an Inoue Kazumi I want to know -"

" _Damn! How'd you find out he was Federico Vongola's son ? I got rid of all the DNA tests. I know I did_."

A long pause.

"What?" Reborn asked low and dangerously.

" _Oh, hell_."

* * *

Reborn immediately wrote to Nono informing him of this development. Frederico had been the Ninth's favorite son, after all.

It was a pity Inoue Kazumi was a confirmed cloud, Reborn thought, before remembering the confrontation he had just recently had with the young man. It was probably a very good thing Inoue wasn't a sky. A very good thing.

 **108.**

Hibari was at the prime sakura viewing location, and to ensure that he was not to be crowed by annoying herbivores, he had posted on of his subordinates at the entrance to scare off any herbivores.

The only problem was some herbivores came around and bested his weakling subordinates.

He huffed as he kicked the pathetic weakling.

He glanced up and noticed that Inoue-sama' s brother was apart of the herbivore pack.

"Is Inoue-sama coming?" He asked. Hibari noticed the baby looked at him intently when he asked of Inoue-sama. Interesting, but of course someone as interesting as the baby would of course take note of a carnivore of Inoue-sama's level.

"Hey, Hibari." Inoue-sama's brother said, smiling, as the other herbivores he was with were looking confused. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Kazu-nii is going to stop by to eat with us. Do you mind if we sit here. I promise we'll be as far away from you as possible."

"Hn. Only if Inoue-sama comes. If he doesn't I'll bite you to death." Hibari threatened then climbed onto a comfortable tree limb to recline. Well, he would bite all of them to death except for Inoue-sama's brother - it wouldn't do to upset Inoue-sama after all, (plus he found Yamamoto more tolerable than most other herbivores).

Below him he heard the herbivores talking among each other.

"Why does he call your brother 'Inoue-sama'? " Gokudera asked incredulously.

"I have no idea, but they get along really well. Like I've said before, they're really good friends. They meet up every week or so to have tea, desserts, and play go together." Takeshi responded cheerfully.

"Weird." Was the fluffy herbivore's response.

 **109.**

"Oi! Baseball idiot!" Gokudera called out as he slide into Takesushi.

Kazumi glared at the silver haired teen, as Yamamoto-san looked on curiously, and Takeshi smiled at the sight of his friend.

"What's up Gokudera? Rather late to hang out isn't? Oh! Do you want to sleep over tonight? That would be fun, though we would need to invite Tsu-" Takeshi started chattering only to be cut off.

"No! I'm not here to hang out. I'm here to tell you to pack your bags. Dino-san said he'll take you on a trip to Italy tomorrow, you just have to meet him at the airport." Gokudera said quickly.

"Oh? Italy? You haven't been there in a while." Otou-san commented. And when he meant 'a while' it had only been about eight months ago or so.

"Can I go, Otou-san?" Takeshi asked eagerly.

"I don't have a problem with it as long as this Dino looks out for you while you're there."

"Kazu-nii?" He didn't really need his brother's opinion but he always liked to ask.

"Hn. Let me write Cavallone a letter. Make sure you deliver it to him and you have to promise to be careful." Kazu-nii said before heading upstairs to grab some paper, and more likely than not, start packing for Takeshi. Kazu-nii was kind of a mother hen sometimes.

* * *

"Oh, Dino-san, before I forget, my nii-san asked me to give this to you." Takeshi said, digging through his over the shoulder bag as he and Dino-san and Dino-san's men waited to board the plane. "Ah! Here it is!"

Dino-san took the envelope with a look of bemusement. "Your brother, huh?"

Takeshi and Dino-san's men watched as Dino-san read the letter and the further he got into it the paler he got.

Finally. "Yamamoto your brother is Inoue Kazumi?" Dino-san asked looking rather afraid.

"Yeah!" Takeshi confirmed cheerfully. "That's Kazu-nii."

"You two don't..." Dino-san trailed off, staring at Takeshi like he had never seen him before.

"Have the same last name? We're half siblings. Different fathers same mother. Oh! If you know Kazu-nii do you know Squ-nii, too?"

"Squ? Nii? " Dino-san questioned faintly, looking at Takeshi in disbelief. "Yes, I know him. I guess he and your brother are still close then?"

"Yep! They're dating now, ya know? Have been for years." Takeshi informed him happily.

"Really?" Dino-san looked like he was about to pass out.

(Later on, once Takeshi was out of earshot Dino had a quick meeting with his men and informed them that under no circumstances was any harm to come to Yamamoto Takeshi. Very bad thinks would happen if that teen was hurt in any way under Dino's care).

 **110.**

The first Kazumi heard of local students being attacked was from Hibari-kun over cake, tea, and go at one of their usual meet ups.

"Hn." Said Kazumi in thought.

"It is very peculiar, Inoue-sama. However, do not be concerned. I will deal with it before long. I will bite those who cause mischief in Namimori to death." Hibari- kun said.

"Call me if you require assistance." Kazumi told him.

Hibari looked surprised. "Getting involved personally, Inoue-sama? That is unlike you. Especially considering you don't like your abilities to be known."

"One must fight if the situation calls for it." Kazumi said, taking a sip of tea. "It won't do to for one to be walked over in their own home."

Hibari nodded and placed a go stone on the board between them. "I completely agree, Inoue-sama. However, your involvement won't be necessary Inoue-sama. I'll take care of the weaklings that threaten the peace of Namimori."

"I'll hold you to that."

* * *

The next day Take-chan, Hibari-kun, Sawada-kun, and Gokudera-kun were all admitted to the hospital.

Kazumi was furious. At Reborn for getting his brother involved, and at himself for not being there when two people he care about needed him most. No longer could he hold back with the excuse that there was no need for his power in this more peaceful world. This world was not peaceful, he had just been willfully ignoring it's violence. He may not want to get involved, but no longer would he actively avoid and ignore a problem, waiting for other's to take care of it.

He couldn't afford to risk it.

 **111.**

Squalo was not fucking happy. He hadn't been able to see Kazumi in months. Yeah, the Varia had manged to rescue that shitty boss of their's, but that didn't change the fact he was fucking pissed that he was currently chasing some little bastard over the rooftops of some fucking city in goddamn Japan that was far too close to Kazumi and his family for his fucking comfort. He was well aware how Kazumi felt about Mafia being anywhere close to Take-chan (even though Squalo was well aware that the famous hitman Reborn was in Namimori and hanging around a friend of Take-chan's - but he was also very aware that Kazumi was fucking pissed about what the messes that Take-chan kept getting dragged into -and Squalo didn't want any of that ire directed at him).

Squalo swung his sword down hard at the Vongola brat, demanding, "Why the fuck are you in Japan?"

The little bastard defiantly refused to tell him and told him so in some shitty archaic Japanese, that made the scum sound like he had swallowed an old fucking text book on Japanese.

"VOI! I'm going to slice you to fucking pieces!" Squalo declared, continuing the attack.

He really needed to finish this up before they hit Namimori, because if they kept heading in the direction they were going that was definitely where they would end up.

 **112.**

" _Hey, Kazu-nii want to meet me and my friends in town to hang out today?"_

That was the text that Kazumi had received from Take-chan shortly after he had left for school that had him in downtown Namimori looking for a group of kids - who on average were a good seven years younger than him (he really needed more friends his age that actually lived in the same country as him). He normally wouldn't be able to hang around with Take-chan and his friends (though he was asked every time they did something) because he normally had to work, but today was a rare day where he didn't have any publishing work and he was off from Takesushi.

Just as he was arriving at the location Take-chan had told him they were stopped at for the moment, a loud crashing sound erupted from a nearby building. With a shout that soon followed after in an extremely familiar voice.

"VOI! I'll slice up any outsider trash that gets in my way!"

Kazumi smiled as his eyes found Squalo posing rather ridiculously on a roof top. It was good to see him, now all Kazumi wanted to know was what the hell he was doing on Mafia business in Namimori. Squalo was well aware that Kazumi didn't approve of it.

 **113.**

Squalo watched intently as the trash he had been following (all the way to fucking Namimori - it was damn bad sometimes when he was right), grabbed the hand of some kid with fluffy brown hair and began to drag him away. Very fucking curious. Squalo wouldn't have paid the teen any attention had that bastard not done that - shitty mistake trash.

He launched himself towards that bastard - Squalo forgot his name some kind of fucking spice or some shit, he didn't give a damn - only to be stopped halfway through the attack by a familiar voice.

"Squ-nii!"

And low and fucking behold. There was Take-chan running up to him, looks of disbelief from most of the fuckers who lacked common sense and hadn't scattered when the fight had arrived in the area.

Squalo held still long enough for Take-chan to get to him and throw his arms around his waist.

The fluffy haired kid exclaimed out loud, "Yamamoto knows that weirdo?!" The fucker most likely did not mean to say that out loud considering he clamped a hand over his mouth almost immediately afterwards.

"It's great to see you Squ-nii! But...ugh, could you please not attack Tsuna again? I don't know why you're chasing that other guy, but Tsuna is a friend of mine, so..."

Squalo shrugged. "Sure, Take-chan."

"Hn. I've said it before, but I can't believe Bel says that _I'm_ the one who's got you whipped. He's definitely got it wrong."

"Ah! Kazu-nii look who's here!" Take-chan exclaimed turning his head to Kazumi who was approaching, but still not letting Squalo go.

"I see. I'm wondering why I wasn't told he was going to be in Japan. Hn?"

Squalo was so screwed.

 **114.**

Reborn was unpleasantly surprised when he saw Squalo Superbi of the Varia chasing down Basil, a subordinate of Sawada Iemitsu, in Namimori. However he was plain surprised when Takeshi called out to the Varia member familiarly, hugged him, and even got him to agree not to attack Tsuna again (for the moment at least).

It was sheer disbelief that came over him as he watched Inoue Kazumi approach Squalo with a fond, yet annoyed expression. The conversation he watched was nearly surreal, if one knew Squalo Superbi's reputation.

"So, why wasn't I told you were coming?"

"A- fuc- da- Kazumi! VOI! I didn't know alright!" Inoue raised a brow. "I really didn't! Shit just happened and it kind of was a last minute thing! Honest, Kazumi!" Squalo frantically tried to explain. For some reason or another Squalo clamped his hands (even the false one with the sword attached) over Takeshi's ears and then the curse words began to flow, but he sounded like he was trying to avoid using them before - interesting.

"Hn. Fine. You owe me dango."

"VOI! I haven't fucking seen you in months -"

"And who's fault was that?" Inoue asked, even though the Varia member continued to talk over him.

"- And one of the first fucking things that come out of your damn mouth is about fucking dango! Dango! You are so damned demanding! I swear -"

Inoue rolled his eyes and leaned over Takeshi to plant a kiss on Squalo's forehead (Reborn's eyebrows disappeared under his fedora - he supposed he just discovered who Inoue-san's mysterious boyfriend was, in the distance he could hear Bianchi start to mutter enraged words under her breath) causing Squalo to start sputtering and blush red.

"Come on, Squalo. Let's go catch up." Inoue-san said.

"VOI! I - Dammit! Can't got to go catch that fucker!" Squalo yelled pointing his sword at Basil.

"Why?"

"He's got something the boss wants!"

"Is it important?"

"Fuck yeah!"

"Later." Squalo sputtered some more, and Takeshi blushed red at his brother's words. "If it's important then do you honestly think someone would let their subordinate - who they know is weaker than them - carry it?"

A pause. "Shit. I fucking hate it when your right!"

Inoue shook his head and grabbed Squalo's hand pulling him away and waving bye to Takeshi. "I'm right most of the time."

"I know! It's a goddamn pain in the ass!"

"Again, later. Dango first."

"Kazumi!"

Reborn still wasn't sure his senses weren't playing trick on him.

Gokudera-kun summed it up rather nicely. "What the hell just happened here?!"

Tsuna asked Takeshi, "Who was that?"

"Oh, that was Squ-nii. He's a bit loud isn't he? But, yeah he's Kazu-nii's boyfriend, and they've been best friends since they were four. And before you ask, yeah that's normally how their conversations go." Takeshi said grinning widely.

It seemed Nono's grandson had... peculiar taste.

 **115.**

"...yeah, so that's the fucking situation, Boss!" Squalo had been on the phone to Xanxus explaining about the fake half-rings so that the Varia's arrival would be delayed. Kazumi had been in the shower for most of the explanation, but had returned just in time to catch the last bit.

Kazumi sat down on his bed next to Squalo, pajama bottoms on and a wet towel wrapped around his shoulders. His wet hair was down his back and nearly touching the sheets. Squalo turned to look at him and froze, face turning beat red, giving Kazumi the perfect opportunity to snatch the phone out of his hand.

"Hn. Xanxus." Kazumi greeted.

A pause. " _Shitty shark's scum."_

"You are coming to Namimori." It wasn't a question. "I would suggest not coming for at least a week." It wasn't suggestion.

"Why would I do that scum?" Xanxus growled. Kazumi narrowed his eyes, apparently some of the fear he had instilled in Xanxus had faded over the years they hadn't seen each other. That would have to be rectified soon.

"Hn. You'll be short one member for whatever fight you pick. Squalo's not leaving my sight for the next seven days, plan your travel arrangements accordingly." And then Kazumi hung up on him, not bothering to listen to the protest that he knew would come.

Squalo looked at Kazumi, expression varying from 'are you out of your damned mind, you just hung up on my damned Boss!' to 'damn you just hung up on my fucking Boss, and that was fucking hot!'.

Kazumi smiled. Then he pulled Squalo in for a kiss, faintly surprised when Squalo pulled away only moments after. Kazumi gave him a questioning look.

"That fucking bird is fucking glaring at me!" Squalo exclaimed, pointing wildly at where Shisui was perched near the window.

"Hn." Kazumi said, noting that Shisui was glaring - as much as a bird could glare. However, Kazumi didn't really see the problem - it was a bird that was staring - and glaring - at them while they kissed not someone like Takeshi.

Kazumi rolled his eyes when Squalo exclaimed, "Voi! It's fucking weird!"

* * *

A few hours later Yamamoto made his way towards Kazumi's bed room. For the past few hours he had been able to hear Shisui constant complaints and was wondering what was wrong with the crow. He found Shisui outside Kazumi's bedroom door in his rarely used cage. Odd, Yamamoto noted, before noticing the sounds coming from Kazumi's room.

Blushing, Yamamoto grabbed Shisui's cage and began making his way downstairs. No wonder Shisui had been evicted from Kazumi's room - Squalo must have come for a visit.

 **This isn't really where I wanted to end this chapter, but I've been kind of stuck on the ring battles. I figured ya'll have waited long enough especially with part 2.1 as the last thing I posted. Just a warning the next chapter will probably take some time, my planned course load for the rest of the year is a bit ridiculous.**

 **I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me what you think.**


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